By Adam Lynn
The News Tribune
PIERCE COUNTY, Wash. — Pierce County prosecutors charged a 21-year-old woman with attempted first-degree murder Tuesday for an attack on a corrections deputy in the Pierce County Jail last week.
Not guilty pleas were entered in Superior Court on behalf of Kady Jo Paxton, who also is charged with attempted first-degree assault and possession of a deadly weapon in a correctional facility.
Court Commissioner Meagan Foley ordered Paxton jailed in lieu of $250,000 bail, which was down from the $1 million pro-tem Judge John McCarthy ordered during Paxton’s first appearance last week.
Defense attorney John Cyr requested an even lower amount — $30,000 — arguing that his client is a lifelong resident of Western Washington, the mother of a 3-year-old child and has no previous felony record.
“She does have family support,” Cyr said.
But Foley said she was concerned about several misdemeanor warrants on Paxton’s record and the nature of the alleged crime.
Charging documents contend Paxton attacked the 44-year-old deputy while she tried to move Paxton to a new cell after the inmate complained that her toilet was not working.
Paxton was in jail awaiting trial on a car-theft charge.
Prosecutors said Paxton used a jail-issue towel that had been knotted at the ends to attack the deputy. They contend the inmate intended to use the towel as a ligature to strangle the deputy.
The 17-year veteran fended off the attack and radioed for help, court records show.
“The victim states she feared for her life during this incident, particularly with the way the defendant was able to control her with the towel-like material,” charging papers state.
Copyright 2016 The News Tribune