Court documents: Victim in north Spokane domestic violence murder stabbed 26 times

New court documents filed Monday disclose Kassie Dewey was stabbed 26 times, including once through the heart, in a brutal attack last week that left her dead and her young daughter in critical condition.

The man arrested in connection to the attack, Joshua P. Phillips, 41, made his first court appearance Monday after being released from the hospital and arrested during the weekend.

Phillips is charged with second-degree murder and second-degree attempted murder. He’s being held in the Spokane County Jail on a $1.5 million bond.

Kassie Dewey and Phillips had been dating and living together since last June and had a difficult relationship in which they seemed to “constantly fight,” according to court documents.

Two days before Dewey was killed, she had kicked Phillips out of her north Spokane home.

Dewey’s two older children arrived at the home Sunday after spending time at their father’s house to find the garage at their mother’s house closed and locked with the sound of a running car inside. Emergency crews were called and broke into the garage to find Dewey lying dead just inside the door with blood splattered across the garage, according to court documents.

There were child-sized bloody hand and footprints around the garage. A container of jelly beans was found next to Dewey and her daughter Lilly that appeared to have been dropped there, according to court documents.

Lilly was found with seven to ten stab wounds with some of her organs visible. In the ambulance on her way to the hospital, Lilly told a medic “the man stabbed me,” according to court documents.

Phillips was also found in the garage where two cars were running, according to court documents. Phillips was acting confused and taken to a hospital. He had no major injuries despite his hand being covered in blood, according to court documents.

An emergency room nurse told police that Phillips said he had been in the garage attempting to kill himself for 2 hours.

Police recovered a knife with blood on it from the scene , according to court documents. Phillips’ car was found parked about a block away.

Lilly remained in the intensive care unit as of Saturday afternoon, according to a post on the family’s GoFundMe.

“She doesn’t like her breathing tube, but she’s a trooper,” the update said.