Mother accused of abusing 6-year-old daughter for years

Associated Press

SEATTLE – King County prosecutors have charged a woman with the assault and criminal mistreatment of a 6-year-old child, accusing the woman of beating, starving and possibly injecting her daughter with illicit drugs.

Charging papers say Garlyn Grace was arrested March 1 in Seattle’s Georgetown neighborhood after her boyfriend called 911 and reported finding the child unresponsive, The Seattle Times reported.

Grace remains jailed in lieu of $500,000 bail. She is to be arraigned March 16. It wasn’t immediately known if she has a lawyer to comment on her behalf.

Senior Deputy Prosecutor Christian Brown wrote in charging papers that the girl’s injuries amounted to torture and the abuse had been ongoing since at least January 2019.

“Experts from Seattle Children’s Hospital are working diligently to revive the victim from near-fatal injuries,” Brown wrote.

Seattle Fire Department medics found the girl unresponsive with a weak pulse, the charges say. She was revived and told firefighters she was hungry and that “Mommy gives me whoopings,” according to the charges.

Firefighters contacted Seattle police and reported the girl appeared malnourished and was covered in bruises.

Doctors documented injuries and signs of starvation and raised concerns about forced illicit drug ingestion because of the girl’s mental state at the hospital and discovery of puncture marks during a physical exam, the charges say.

According to police, Grace claimed the girl’s injuries were self-inflicted.