A Seattle lady was nearly killed and had lasting injuries after a thief attacked her outside her home in the middle of the day.
Emma Cotton, 88, was cleaning some household items on her back porch on October 13 when a stranger approached her and demanded her personal belongings, according to the Seattle Police Department.
The man then “brutally assaulted” Cotton outside her home before dragging her into the garage to resume the abuse, according to police reports.
After chewing off her finger to steal a ring, authorities say the thief fled the scene.
It’s been over a month since the attack, and Cotton’s three kids — Marvin, Ricky, and Wes — have come together to tell their mother’s tale in the hopes that it would raise awareness about the case and help find the man who nearly murdered her.
The men told local Seattle television stations that the violence started when the thief walked up behind their mother and smacked her in the face.
“She felt somebody breathing behind her, and she said, as soon as she turned around, he just started punching her,” Ricky told KING.
In another interview with KOMO, he expressed admiration for his mother’s ability to survive the attack.
“My mom only weighs 100 pounds sopping wet,” he told me, “…and it definitely was something spiritual that happened, why she’s still here, how she fought this guy off.”
Marvin, meanwhile, told KIRO that he could scarcely recognize their mother when they first saw her in the hospital following the attack, adding that her “head was as big as the size of a basketball.”
Ricky further revealed that physicians were unable to reconnect their mother’s finger since the robber stole it with him after biting it off when she was unable to remove her diamond ring.
Cotton, who was rushed to the hospital in bad condition after suffering many breaks and fractures, spent three days in the Intensive Care Unit owing to brain bleeds received during the attack. She has now been discharged and is rehabilitating at a rehabilitation center.
She has not talked publicly about the attack, but responding officers from the Seattle Police Department who were present in the aftermath stated, “She thought he [the suspect] was going to try to kill her.”
Police have published photographs of the suspect captured by security cameras in the vicinity and are requesting anybody with information about the incident or the man’s identify to call the SPD Violent Crimes Tip Line at 206-233-5000.
The Seattle Police Department is now conducting a collaborative investigation with officers from Burien and Tukwila, as well as the King County Sheriff’s Office.
