Minnesota prosecutors on Tuesday accused a Baltimore woman of attempted murder after a weekend fight with her teenage daughter spiraled into a near-fatal drowning.
The Otter Tail County Sheriff’s Office said they arrested and charged Jasmine Marie Laws, 35, with trying to kill her daughter during the scrum on West Battle Lake over the weekend.
Court documents said the altercation started at about 4:20 p.m. Sunday when Ms. Laws’ 15-year-old daughter hit her with a towel as she was lying on a pontoon boat.
The suspect tossed her daughter’s cellphone into the lake in retaliation, police said, and the mother claimed her daughter began punching and kicking her moments later. A brawl broke out from there.
The elder Ms. Laws “then tried to put her in a headlock and flipped her, causing her neck to hit the dock,” the criminal complaint said. She “then pushed her in the water and held her head underwater and she could not breathe. She said she tried to yell ’stop’ but [the mother] did not stop.”
The complaint said witnesses noticed the victim trying to lift her head out of the water, but Ms. Laws allegedly kept shoving her daughter’s head back under the waves.
One witness told police that Ms. Laws said, “I gave you life, I can f——— end your life,” according to the complaint.
The affidavit said bystanders had to “physically pry” Ms. Laws off her daughter, whom court papers did not name.
The girl told police she passed out during the confrontation, according to court filings. Witnesses who saw the incident said the girl was unresponsive on a beach for several minutes after the scrap.
Police said the victim was taken to a hospital in serious, but non-life-threatening condition.
Officers who interviewed Ms. Laws said the suspect denied keeping her daughter’s head in the lake.
However, the criminal affidavit noted deputies overheard Ms. Laws saying her daughter’s head was “never under water for more than 3 seconds at a time.”
Ms. Laws remains in custody in Otter Tail County jail on charges of attempted murder, strangulation and domestic assault.
No information was listed about future court dates for the suspect.
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