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Background: News footage of the home where Teri Suiter allegedly attacked members of her family (KREM). Inset: News footage of Teri Suiter’s court appearance (KREM).
A Washington woman is in custody after she allegedly stabbed members of her family to “get even” with them for “ruining” her life.
Teri Suiter, 43, made her first court appearance on Tuesday after she was arrested Monday by Spokane Valley Police Department deputies, who reportedly had to subdue her with a stun gun when she threatened to harm herself.
Before she tried to turn a knife on herself that day, Suiter allegedly stabbed her adult daughter and then attacked her mother. According to an affidavit of facts obtained by local ABC affiliate KXLY, Suiter was heard saying to her mother, “I hope you die” during the alleged attack.
According to the affidavit, Suiter’s daughter, who was not named, was in her bedroom with her child — Suiter’s grandchild — when Suiter came in and allegedly stabbed her daughter. While the accused’s daughter tried to protect her own child from Suiter’s alleged attack, her knife-wielding mother stabbed her a second time.
KXLY reported that as the daughter fought to get her mother out of the room, she realized that she had been stabbed in the back and chest.
The affidavit stated that Suiter left the room, after which Suiter’s daughter heard her grandmother — Suiter’s mother — screaming from another part of the house. Suiter’s daughter went to help her grandmother and heard Suiter say to her, “I hope you die.”
KREM, a local CBS affiliate, also obtained the affidavit, which reportedly said that Suiter not only allegedly stabbed her own mother, but then pushed her down the stairs before stabbing her again. The affidavit stated that Suiter’s daughter tried to stop the alleged attack on her grandmother by fighting Suiter off with a baby gate.
According to the affidavit, Suiter’s mother told police that at one point during the alleged attack, she heard her daughter say, “I’m going to get even with you for ruining my life.”
When officers arrived at the scene, Suiter was allegedly still wielding a knife and refused to drop the weapon. When she reportedly threatened to harm herself, deputies used a Taser on Suiter and took her into custody.
Suiter’s daughter and mother were taken to the hospital for serious but not life-threatening injuries. Both women told police that Suiter’s attack on them was not provoked.
During Suiter’s first court appearance on Tuesday, a spokesperson for the two victims read a statement about concerns for their safety, saying, “This is not a sane woman. She has always told me that she wants me dead. This is not her first time being violent, and I want this charged at its highest ability. She was living with us at the time and it just shows that if she could do this to her mother and daughter, she can do it to anyone. There is no telling what she is capable of.”
Suiter was charged with two counts of assault and her bail was set at $500,000. She is next due in court on May 6.
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