[1]Grace E. Barker appears in Lewis County Superior Court today.
By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter
CHEHALIS – The 26-year-old woman accused of stabbing the father of her baby in the neck at his Mossyrock home was brought before a judge today for her first court appearance.
Grace E. Barker was rolled in a chair to which she was restrained into Lewis County Super Court.
Barker was non-communicative yesterday at the jail, and missed her scheduled appearance, but the judge told corrections officers she had to see him today, even if it meant employing a so-called drag order.
Barker said very little, except for “yes” when Judge Richard Brosey asked if Grace Barker was her true and correct name.
She was represented at the hearing by defense attorney Joely O’Rourke.
Lewis County Deputy Prosecutor Kevin Nelson requested she be held on $1 million bail, noting the charges against her could change.
At last check, the victim was in critical condition, Nelson said.
Barker is charged with first-degree assault, an offense with a maximum penalty of life in prison.
Prosecutors wrote in court documents that Brian Slater was trying to get her to leave his residence when she picked up a knife, and he armed himself with a knife and when he threw his down thinking she had done the same, she stabbed him in the throat.
He was interviewed at Harborview Medical Center in Seattle before he underwent surgery.
Both Nelson and the judge spoke of getting an order on Monday, to have Barker’s competency evaluated by Western State Hospital. Brosey said he expected she could be seen by a doctor within 72 hours after that.
The judge appointed Centralia lawyer Shane O’Rourke to represent her. He set her bail at $500,000.
The judge also signed a no-contact order with the victim. He scheduled her arraignment for Thursday.
Jail staff emptied the courtroom of other defendants who made their first appearances this afternoon before bringing Barker up from the jail. They’re usually brought into court in groups.
Joely O’Rourke, who has worked in the courthouse since 2009, said she believed that was only the second time she’d seen a defendant brought to court in a restraint chair.
After Barker’s hearing was finished and she was taken back down to the Lewis County Jail, corrections officers brought another defendant into the courtroom in a restraint chair.
Shaylor L. Black also said very little.
Black was booked into the Lewis County Jail yesterday for possession of methamphetamine as Jane Doe, as Chehalis police weren’t certain of her real name.
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For background, read “Mossyrock argument: Two knives, one airlifted, other arrested” from Thursday April 7, 2016, here [2]
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[3]The second of two defendants brought to Lewis County Superior Court today from the jail in a restraint chair, Shaylor L. Black, was accompanied by four corrections officers.