TACOMA — The Pierce County prosecutor has charged a 39-year-old woman with first-degree murder in the weekend stabbing death of her mother in the Puyallup area.
Bail for Meshawn West was set at $2 million on Monday.
Prosecutor Mark Lindquist said Joyce West was stabbed multiple times with a steak knife on Saturday in her home.
Lindquist said the victim’s husband was in the garage when he heard her yelling. He went upstairs and found his wife, covered with blood and unresponsive.
Responding deputies said the younger woman began speaking in an unintelligible language after they arrived and said she was “speaking in tongues.” She reportedly claimed her mother practiced witchcraft.
The prosecutor said Meshawn West has a history of mental illness and had recently arrived at her parents’ home from Las Vegas. Lindquist said the victim wanted her daughter home so she could get help.
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