A Seattle woman is under investigation for a potential hate crime after allegedly biting a chunk of flesh from another woman's forehead during an attack that involved racist and homophobic remarks.
The incident occurred on 18 September in broad daylight. Diana Gonzalez, 36, was walking to a local convenience store when the alleged assailant, identified by prosecutors as Kamilia Chadli, threw a food wrapper at her, Gonzalez told Seattle police.
After Gonzalez asked why she had done that, Chadli allegedly yelled, “You’re the inferior race,” and used a homophobic slur, before spitting on Gonzalez and dragging her to the ground. The suspect then bit into Gonzalez's forehead, gnawing out a 1in-diameter chunk of flesh.
Flesh found at scene
Officers responding to the scene found a piece of the victim's flesh that the suspect had spat into a grate.
“It looks like a zombie bite in a movie that you would see – like it’s a full circle,” Gonzalez told KOMO-TV, a Seattle ABC affiliate, wearing a bandage on her forehead. “This is my face. I’m going to have a scar permanently.”
Gonzalez said she learned from a police report that the woman was unhoused.
Suspect's background
Court documents indicate Chadli was living in a shelter across the street from the crime scene, and police reports from prior encounters described her as having a “history of mental health and substance abuse issues”.
Gonzalez noted that she and Chadli, who are the same age, share a similar complexion and both have curly hair. “I was like: ‘Do you think I’m white? Do you think I’m Black?’ She’s like: ‘I don’t care,’” Gonzalez said, adding the woman repeated her racist remarks.
Charges and investigation
Chadli allegedly fled the scene but was chased by a witness, who flagged down a marshal at a nearby courthouse. She has been charged with second-degree assault, a felony, and is detained with bail set at $150,000. Her arraignment is scheduled for Monday. A hate crime investigation is also under way, jail records show.
“Though a hate crime is not charged now, that charge may still be added later in the case if the evidence can meet the burden required by state law – which is often higher than what people understandably think the proof burden is,” the King County prosecutor’s office said in a statement to Seattle’s CBS affiliate, KIRO 7 News.
