Diamond Reynolds Charged With Assault
Diamond Reynolds, the woman who went live on Facebook after police fatally shot her boyfriend, Philando Castile, has been arrested for brutally beating a woman with a hammer.
Reynolds, 27, Chnika Blair, 18, and Dyamond Richardson, 25, face charges of second and third degree assault for the Tuesday morning attack.
Via Star Tribune:
According to the complaint, the incident in question started after 10 a.m. Tuesday when Reynolds and Blair confronted the victim in a parking lot in the 1500 block of Jessamine Lane. Authorities say the two women "jumped" the victim, with one of the attackers, thought to be Reynolds, wielding a hammer.
The victim remembers being repeatedly struck in the head with the hammer, with one blow sending her to the ground and causing her to momentarily black out, the complaint said.
Minutes later, Richardson pulled up to the scene in another vehicle and began spraying the victim
with "bear mace."
Police said the woman was taken to Regions Hospital with serious injuries. In a bedside interview with police, she reportedly picked her assailants out of three different photo lineups.
The women who assaulted her reportedly left the area in separate vehicles, police say. The three were arrested separately on Thursday and booked into the Ramsey County jail on suspicion of assault.
Police said the women had a simmering feud - that Richardson was upset with a friend of the victim's, whom she accused of showing up at her job last month to pick a fight. Reynolds also had a dispute with the same friend, claiming that the woman had damaged Reynolds' vehicle, the complaint said.
Bail was set at $90,000 for Diamond Reynolds and the other two women.
They are expected to appear in court on Monday.
In the past, Diamond has stated she suffers from PTSD after witnessing Philando's shooting death.