An 88-year-old Seattle woman was brutally attacked in her own backyard last month in an assault so violent that the suspect bit off her finger before fleeing with her jewelry, according to Seattle police.
The terrifying attack happened on October 13 in broad daylight. Emma Cotton had been working behind her home in Rainier Beach when a man she said she didn’t recognize approached her from the alley and demanded that she hand over her belongings.
Cotton later told FOX13 that she couldn’t make out what he was saying – and when she turned to walk back toward the house, she said he attacked her and dragged her into the garage where the assault continued.
Cotton says she screamed throughout the beating, hoping nearby neighbors might hear. The attacker stole several pieces of jewelry, including a ring from the finger he bit off.
“When he bit my finger off and I told him, I said that is the lowest thing you could do, and I said how would you feel if somebody bit your grandmother or your mother’s finger off,” she said.
Officers from police in Seattle, Burien, Tukwila, along with the King County Sheriff’s Office, responded to the home and searched the area, but the suspect, described as being in his 30s, had escaped.
The suspect remains at large nearly two months later. Seattle Police and Crime Stoppers have released images of the suspect and are offering up to $1,000 for tips leading to an arrest.
Cotton, who was hospitalized with broken bones and serious head injuries, spent weeks unable to walk. She told FOX13 that the trauma followed her into the hospital, where nightmares plagued her recovery.
She added that she has since forgiven the man and hopes he seeks repentance for his actions.
“For somebody to come in and invade you in your own property when you’re out working in your yard,” Cotton said. “Nobody gave him that right.”
