Updated at 10:50 a.m.
By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter
Authorities are searching for a 23-year-old woman, suspected of stabbing her sleeping mother in Rochester this morning.
[1]Amanda Lee Bassell
The 42-year-old victim has been taken to Providence St. Peter Hospital in Olympia and is in stable condition, according to the Thurston County Sheriff’s Office.
Deputies were called around 4:30 a.m. to the 18700 block of Elderberry Street Southwest, according to the sheriff’s office.
They are looking for the daughter, Amanda Lee Bassell, described as 5-feet 4-inches tall and weighing about 130 pounds, with brown hair and brown eyes.
Bassell is wanted for attempted murder.
Sheriff’s Lt. Greg Elwin says Bassell has strong ties to Lewis County and is believed to have gang affiliations.
Elwin said the victim awoke to being assaulted and was stabbed in and around her neck numerous times.
She was able to fend off her attacker and flee the bedroom, only to collapse in another part of the house, according to Elwin. The father was asleep in another room and awoke to his wife screaming for help, he said.
He said a smaller-type kitchen knife was used.
They have no idea what prompted it, he said.
“The mother was completely asleep and woke to being attacked,” Elwin said. “There was no precipitating events. It’s a complete mystery at this point.”
The suspect fled the scene before law enforcement arrived, according to Elwin.
Bassell was recently released from prison, for cases involving eluding in Lewis County and assaulting a guard while incarcerated, according to Elwin. She was then just recently in the Lewis County Jail and released, he said.
She had been staying with her parents the past week or so, he said.
The mother is currently undergoing surgery, he said.
The sheriff’s office says Bassell, who also goes by the last name Daarud, should be considered “assaultive” and not approached if spotted. They ask that anyone who knows her whereabouts to call 911 or the sheriff’s office at 360-704-2740.