Woman beaten with sledgehammer speaks out
MILWAUKEE (WITI) -- The Milwaukee Police Department is investigating a felony assault on a 32-year-old pregnant Milwaukee woman and her 10-year-old daughter. The two were allegedly beaten by a 26-year-old neighbor who is mentally ill.
The incident happened just before midnight on December 11th.
Miranda Harris says Malcom Wright took away her sense of security after breaking into her home and horrifically injuring her and her daughter with a sledgehammer and samurai sword.
"A man just came in my room and he was like '(expletive) you won't let me see my son. I was like 'whoa I'm pregnant.' I'm like, what's going on and I seen a samurai sword and I did like this and he came down on my arm and I threw my other arm up and he was slashing," recalled Harris. "He beat me with a sledgehammer and everything. I have fractured ribs, a broken eye bone and I got metal plates and rods in both arms."
Before Harris was knocked unconscious, police say Write struck her little girl who was sleeping on the living room couch.
"You could have cut her face off, now she has a scar on her face that may be there for the rest of her life," said Harris, who fears things could have been worse. "My daughter was saying he was saying 'where's the other kids?' So he was looking for my 3- and 4-year-old. If he would have saw them asleep in the bed, what they would have done to them?"
The suspect's father attributes his son's alleged actions to schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. Court documents show this isn't the first time Wright has had a violent outburst.
"All he knows is he was hearing voices and those voices were telling him certain things," said Wright's father. "I put him in my basement and locked him down. I was fearful."
The victimized family says they are physically and emotionally scarred from the incident.
"Now the father, all you can say to me is you're sorry? No, I don't accept that. I could have lost my life. My kids could have lost their life, and my unborn child," said Harris. "I feel like they should be held accountable. That's neglect, locking him in the basement. You know he had a problem."
The suspect was taken to the Milwaukee County Mental Health Complex following his arrest.
As a result of the injuries sustained in the beating, Harris delivered her baby prematurely. The woman is now out of the hospital. She says many of the belongings in her home have been destroyed by large amounts of bloodshed.
The family also says they are too traumatized to return home and are in the process of trying to relocate. A fund for the family of Miranda Harris has been set up at Wells Fargo Bank.
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