Thief Demanded Woman, 88, Give Him Ring. Then He Bit Off Her Finger to Steal It — and He's Still on the Run with Both By Chris Spargo

A Seattle woman was nearly beaten to death and suffered permanent injuries after a thief attacked her outside of her home in the middle of the day.

Emma Cotton, 88, was on her back porch cleaning some household products on Oct. 13 when a stranger came up to her and demanded she hand over her personal belongings, according to the Seattle Police Department.

The man then “brutally assaulted” Cotton outside her home before dragging her into the garage to continue the beating, police said.

Then, after biting off her finger in order to steal a ring, police said the thief fled the scene.

It has now been almost one month since the attack, and Cotton’s three sons — Marvin, Ricky and Wes — have banded together to share their mother’s story in hopes that it will bring awareness to the case and help catch the man who nearly killed her.

Appearing on local Seattle television stations, the men said that the attack began when the thief came up behind their mother and punched her in the face.

“She felt somebody breathing behind her, and she said, soon as she turned around, he just started punching her,” Ricky said in an interview with KING.

He went on to say in another interview with KOMO that he is in awe of his mother for being able to pull through this attack.

“My mom only weighs 100 pounds sopping wet,” he said, “…and it definitely was something spiritual that happened, why she’s still here, how she fought this guy off.”

Marvin, meanwhile, told KIRO that he could barely recognize their mother when they first saw her in the hospital after the attack, adding that her “head was as big as the size of a basketball.”

Ricky shared that doctors also could not reattach their mother’s finger because the thief took it with him after biting it off when she was unable to remove her diamond ring.

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Cotton, who was admitted to the hospital in serious condition and suffered multiple breaks and fractures, spent three days in the Intensive Care Unit due to brain bleeds she sustained during the attack. She has since been released and is recovering at a rehab facility.

She has not spoken publicly about the attack, but responding officers from the Seattle Police Department who were present in the aftermath of the attack noted: “She thought he [the suspect] was going to try to kill her.”

Police have released images of the suspect taken by surveillance cameras in the area and are encouraging anyone who might have information about the attack or know the identity of the man to call the SPD Violent Crimes Tip Line at 206-233-5000.

This is now a joint investigation, according to the Seattle Police Department, who are working with officers from Burien and Tukwila, as well as the King County Sheriff’s Office.