Prosecutors charged two Boston women with an attack last month on another woman that left the victim hospitalized for three days with facial bone fractures and an injury to one of the blood vessels in her neck, District Attorney Kevin Hayden announced.
A third Boston woman was arraigned on Friday in the attack.
Jalisa Banks, 31, of Jamaica Plain and Candace Phillips, 37, of Dorchester were each charged in Dorchester BMC yesterday with assault and battery and assault and battery with a dangerous weapon (shod foot) causing serious bodily injury. Prosecutors requested $2,500 bail and GPS monitoring for Banks and $7,500 bail and GPS monitoring for Phillips, plus revocation of prior bail for an existing gun charge. Judge Jonathan Tynes released Banks and Phillips on personal recognizance and ordered them to have no contact with the victim. Both will return to court May 10 for a pre-trial hearing.
Taranesia Williams, 33, of Dorchester was arraigned on Friday in Dorchester BMC on the same charges. Prosecutors requested $2,500 bail and GPS monitoring. Judge Thomas Kaplanes released Williams on personal recognizance and ordered her to stay away from the victim. Williams will return to court April 28 for a pre-trial hearing.
On February 18 at about 12:49 a.m. Boston police responded to a call for a fight at 2 Shandon Road in Dorchester. The victim, a 41-year-old woman, and a witness told police they had driven to the address to pick up a friend. The victim said she knocked on the friend’s door, then walked back to the car when he did not answer. The victim said she was then attacked by a group of women. The women punched her, knocked her to the ground, then kicked and punched her in the head.
The victim indicated to police that she knew her attackers, and that they may have been motivated by their belief that she was involved in a relationship with a mutual acquaintance. The attackers were eventually identified and summonsed.
Hayden said the apparent motivation for the attack echoed that of a stabbing last month that left one woman dead, another woman injured and a 16-year-old girl charged with murder.
“The impulse to resort to extreme violence amid conflicts over perceived relationships is something we see happening too often. These moments of rage can turn into lives altered or, in the juvenile stabbing case, lives ended. We as a society must do everything we can to address these impulses before they result in more tragedies,” Hayden said.
All charged individuals are presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
Suffolk County District Attorney Kevin Hayden’s office serves the communities of Boston, Chelsea, Revere, and Winthrop, Mass. The office handles over 20,000 cases a year. More than 160 attorneys in the office practice in nine district and municipal courts, Suffolk Superior Court, the Massachusetts Appeals Court, the Supreme Judicial Court, and the Boston Juvenile Courts. The office employs some 300 people and offers a wide range of services and programs to serve anyone who comes in contact with the criminal justice system. This office is committed to educating the public about the services we provide, our commitment to crime prevention, and our dedication to keeping the residents of Suffolk County safe.