A 36-year-old resident of a Duluth group home that cares for people with traumatic brain injuries was arraigned today, accused of repeatedly stabbing a woman who was supervising her.
Jamie Lynn Wooten, of the TBI home at 3935 Maxwell Road, is charged in St. Louis County District Court with two counts of second-degree assault with a dangerous weapon.
The alleged attack occurred about 7:30 p.m. Thursday after the defendant had asked the victim if she could braid her hair. Another staff member at the home heard the victim yelling for help in the home's basement. He told Duluth police he found Wooten stabbing the victim in the head with a pair of purple plastic-handled stainless steel scissors, and he pulled her off the victim.
He said Wooten said, "That bitch deserved it. I don't care if I go to jail.''
Wooten asked Judge Eric Hylden to read the entire three-page complaint to her. When the judge read that the victim said Wooten jumped on top of her and started slashing at her face, the defendant said, "That's a lie.''
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Hylden advised the defendant that the arraignment is not the time to comment on the charges. "There's a totally different side to this,'' Wooten told the court.
According to the criminal complaint, the victim had been assigned to work with Wooten on a one-to-one basis that night. The victim suffered several puncture wounds to her face, some of which required stitches. She described Wooten to police as being manipulative and "very high functioning.''
Wooten told police that she had been braiding Erickson's hair when she pulled the victim by the hair and stabbed her several times in the cheek, eyes and forehead. She said she knew right from wrong but said she was glad she did it because she wanted to disfigure the victim's face.
Hylden ruled that Wooten qualified for a public defender. He set bail at $50,000. The defendant is being held in the St. Louis County Jail on $50,000 bail.
