Woman pleads guilty to 2018 stabbing of pregnant woman
A Hot Springs woman pleaded guilty Monday to stabbing another woman, who was 5 months pregnant at the time, in the neck during an altercation at a mutual friend’s house.
Joleen Kylette Grier, 38, was set to stand trial March 12 in Garland County Circuit Court but opted to plead guilty to a felony count of second-degree battery and was sentenced to five years’ probation, fined $500 and ordered to pay $720 in court costs. A court order barring her from contact with the victim in the case was previously issued.
According to the probable cause affidavit, on June 12, 2018, shortly after 1 a.m., Hot Springs police responded to a residence in the 100 block of Watt Street in reference to a report of a stabbing and made contact with a woman, 32, who was bleeding from a stab wound in the back of her neck.
The woman told police she was visiting a friend at the residence and had gone inside to use the bathroom. When she came out, she saw Grier had arrived at the residence and an argument ensued between the two women.
The woman, who was reportedly 5 months pregnant, said the argument quickly escalated and Grier pulled out a knife and stabbed her. The woman’s friend attempted to hold Grier who was actively chasing the victim down Watt Street with the knife.
The victim was transported by LifeNet to a hospital for treatment of a 1.5-inch cut to the back of her neck.
Grier had left the scene before officers arrived, but they
located her hiding behind a car in the 500 block of Linwood Street. She made a spontaneous statement to officers admitting to the attack and told them she had the knife in her bag.
The friend came over and identified Grier as the one who had attacked the victim.
After she was read her rights, Grier said she had a long-standing hatred for the woman after she was involved with her boyfriend. Grier said when she saw the woman she was “at her breaking point” and “just stabbed her.”
Grier was taken into custody and released two days later on
$5,000 bond. She had pleaded not guilty to the charge on Aug.
13 at which time the no-contact order was issued.
Grier was previously arrested in Benton on Oct. 21, 2013, on felony charges of commercial burglary and theft of property over $1,000 after she stole more than $1,900 worth of merchandise from a Walmart there. She pleaded guilty to the charges in Saline County Circuit Court on June 17, 2014, and was sentenced to four years’ supervised probation.