Authorities say a 24-year-old Los Angeles woman is recovering from a traumatic brain injury after a homeless man stabbed her in the head with a pair of gardening shears.
KTLA reports that Kyli Watts was walking along Lankershim Boulevard in North Hollywood at 11:30 a.m. on October 10 when she was brutally attacked.
The suspect, 30-year-old Johnathan Cole, allegedly thrust a pair of gardening shears with 4-inch blades into the back of Watts’ head as they walked down the street, according to the police.
Watts collapsed after running to a nearby restaurant with the weapon still embedded in her head and pleading for assistance before collapsing.
Watts was rushed to a nearby hospital after restaurant employees were able to call 911.
After the attack, she immediately called her North Carolina-based mother, a psychiatric nurse.
Despite the heinous nature of the crime, the victim’s mother acknowledged that what happened to her daughter was a “social and systemic failure” and that more must be done to assist homeless individuals with mental illness.
Amy Watts, her mother, stated that they were foster parents for 15 years and had experience caring for people with severe mental illnesses.
“She recognizes that this individual is gravely ill,” her mother said.
“This is a problem that we as a society must examine and determine a solution for,” she said. Because the situation will only continue to worsen.
Watts has undergone surgery for a traumatic brain injury and is still hospitalized. As a result of her difficult road to recovery, she will likely experience more long-term issues with her balance and vision.
According to a GoFundMe page created on Watts’ behalf, she was recently laid off from the tech recruiting job for which she moved to Los Angeles a few weeks ago, and she currently lacks health insurance.
According to the fundraiser, Watts will likely spend the next two weeks in the hospital.
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