By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter
CHEHALIS – Instead of a trial next week for the 26-year-old woman being held after her boyfriend was stabbed in the neck at his Mossyrock home, Grace E. Barker will go before a judge to be sentenced.
Barker was arrested right after the April 6 incident and charged with first-degree assault. She pleaded guilty last week, as part of a plea agreement, to second-degree assault with a deadly weapon.
Grace E. Barker
Her lawyer Shane O’Rourke yesterday said the standard range for the offense is 12 months to 14 months in prison, along with another year afterward because of the weapon enhancement. She faces 26 months of lockup, he said.
Prosecutors wrote in charging documents that Brian Slater was trying to get Barker to leave his residence when she picked up a knife, and he armed himself with a knife and when he threw his down thinking she had done the same, she stabbed him in the throat. Slater has said it was a 10-inch stiletto.
Her hearing is scheduled for 1 p.m. on Monday in Lewis County Superior Court.
The settlement before trial follows another April knife crime that ended somewhat similarly.
Gregory L. Trujillo, 58, of Toledo, was charged with first-degree assault following an April 1 attack at the 300 block of Cedar Court in Winlock.
Trujillo’s trial began last week in Lewis County Superior Court, on a charge of first-degree assault, but on Tuesday, he entered into a plea agreement.
The victim in that case told police the two had previously been in an intimate relationship and Trujillo showed up, beat her up and pulled out what was described as a small-bladed knife, leaving her with a large, deep gash on her hand.
Trujillo pleaded guilty to second-degree assault, was sentenced to 14 months in prison and ordered to get evaluated for chemical dependency and domestic violence treatment.
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For background, read “Mossyrock argument: Two knives, one airlifted, other arrested” from Thursday April 7, 2016, here
Tags: By Sharyn L. Decker, news reporter
Haploo…… i…… you………. hmmmmm. You sound like Gracie.
Prosecutors should be ashamed for cutting this deal. Guess is more of a priority to give someone 12 years for breaking into the home of one their “own”.
Crazy old man. Now that its over. Fuck off. If the defense had a self defense case they would have used it. Grace was incredibly violent to me the entire relationship and was more like the lifetime for women channels abused male spouse movie than anything else. I have been beaten black and blue and bloody by this woman for two years and I have understood she has been si .. The closest to violence I have been is my feeling towards you people who were insisting I was at fault. The people who actually know anything about me and grace know that this is the case.
Seems a light pusishment for a violent stabbing. She will do it again to someone else when she gets out. This woman does not have a mental health problem. She is a selfish, manipulative, violent person. I should know, I’ve known her her whole life. That is just who she is. I pray for her children. I pray more she quits having children….
That’s probably fair and the best deal she could get without spending a lot of money on a good self defense lawyer.
My guess is that this lady suffered some childhood trauma which continues to affect her mental stability. Mr. Slater says he was an innocent bystander and did nothing to provoke her demon, but I have my doubts.
Hopefully she will be out soon.