Mossyrock Woman to Spend Two Years in Prison for Knife Attack

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A Mossyrock woman accused in April of stabbing a man in the chest was sentenced to 26 months in prison Monday after taking a plea deal for a lesser charge.

Grace Ella Barker, 26, of Mossyrock, pleaded guilty June 10 to one count of second-degree assault with a deadly weapon. She was sentenced Monday to just over two years in prison.

Barker was initially charged with first-degree assault, domestic violence, after stabbing the victim, identified as a man who she has a child with, causing a punctured lung and a “jugular hematoma,” according to court documents.

“Given the circumstances of this case, you are very lucky,” Superior Court Judge James Lawler said Monday before sentencing Barker. “I hope when you get out, things are different for you.”

Had she been convicted on the first-degree assault charge, Barker could have faced 15 years in prison, her attorney Shane O’Rourke said.

The 26-month sentence was an agreed recommendation from the Lewis County Prosecutor’s Office and O’Rourke.

The Lewis County Sheriff’s Office responded to a 911 hang-up call April 6 in the 200 block of Mossyrock Road in Mossyrock. A later 911 call reported someone had been stabbed in the neck.

Deputies and detectives arrived at the trailer park and contacted the victim, who had been stabbed in the neck, according to court documents.

The victim was transported to Morton General Hospital where medical staff learned he had a punctured right lung and a jugular hematoma, according to court documents.

He was transported to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle.

“This man could have died and is fortunate he did not,” Chief Criminal Deputy Prosecutor Brad Meagher said Monday.

The victim has since made a full recovery, Meagher said.

Investigators learned while speaking with the victim before his surgery that Barker armed herself with a knife after the two had an argument. Barker was reportedly homeless but briefly living with the victim.

The victim reported that he armed himself with a knife as well, but threw it away when he thought Barker did the same, according to court documents. Barker then allegedly stabbed him in the neck.