By Caleb Hutton
A woman described as a “drug addict” grabbed her teenage niece by the throat with both hands and tried to strangle her during an argument, according to charging documents.
Marcella Lynn Beatty, 33, got into an argument with her teenage niece in the hallway of home south of Lynden at 9:26 p.m. June 11. A probable cause statement filed in Whatcom County Superior Court doesn’t mention exactly what the two women were arguing about.
From the charges:
“The defendant pulled (her niece’s) hair. (The niece) pushed the defendant off of her and the defendant grabbed her by the neck with both hands and strangled her, pulling (the niece’s) head downward and forward. (The niece) could not breath or call out for help.”
The teen’s mother walked into the hallway and saw Beatty, her sister, strangling her daughter, according to the charges. She managed to push Beatty away.
Beatty then told the teen’s mom to “control her kid,” prosecutors wrote. Deputies noted abrasions to the teen’s head and the base of her neck. They also noticed Beatty was acting “excited and irrational.”
Beatty suffered no injuries during the attack. For the past few days, prosecutors alleged, she had not been able to get a hold of any methamphetamine, making her irritable.
She was charged last week with two counts of domestic violence assault, in the second and fourth degrees.
why is this person even allowed on the street in the first place