'It was kind of like I was dying.' Pierce County girl says mom tried to suffocate her

SPANAWAY, Wash. — A Spanaway woman has been arrested after her 8-year-old daughter said she didn’t want to go home because the woman pushed a pillow into her face hard enough that she couldn’t breathe, according to charging papers.

The 29-year-old was charged with three counts of second-degree child assault and is expected to be arraigned Monday afternoon.

According to charging papers:

The 8-year-old said she didn’t want to go home from school Wednesday because her mother had pushed a pillow into her face the night before. The girl and her 5-year-old sister were taken into protective custody and interviewed.

The 8-year-old said she kicked hard when the pillow was on her face and that her fists felt tight, her eyes were shut tight, and her mouth was ready to scream and bite.

“It was kind of like I was dying,” she reportedly said.

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The girl also said there were a couple times that her mother tried to suffocate her with a weighted blanket. The mother also covered her nose and mouth with her hands, threatened to kill her and called her profane names, the girl said.

The 5-year-old said she saw her mother put the pillow over her sister’s face and that she looked away because she did not want to see her sister hurt.

Both girls said the incident happened after a dispute about water.

Police spoke with the mother, who said that the 8-year-old has oppositional defiant disorder.

She said she does call the girl names when she is mad and that she covers the girl’s mouth when she screams, according to the charging documents.

She said she had put a pillow on the girl’s face two or three times. The last time was a few weeks ago, she said.

The mother said she did this because she was worried neighbors would hear the girl scream and call the police, and that her children would be taken away.

The mother told police that she had worried the girl would suffocate if she kept holding the pillow over her face.

The News Tribune