SEATTLE (KOMO) -- For the first time, an 88-year-old Seattle woman is speaking out about a brutal attack and robbery at her home in Rainier Beach in which the suspect bit off her right index finger to steal her jewelry.
Emma Cotton told KOMO News she was working on her porch in mid-October when she was attacked, then fought back. What happened has taken a toll on her physically and emotionally, though she shares a message of forgiveness as police search for their suspect.
In her son's house, the great-grandmother explained she's healing nearly two months after losing her finger, and suffering fractured ribs and a head injury.
Seattle police shared surveillance video and photos of the suspect seen walking in the neighborhood in the 9900 block of 64th Avenue South.
Cotton recalls the man grabbed her from behind and beat her for an estimated 20 minutes, and she remembers punching and scratching him.
"What gave you the strength to fight back?" KOMO's Jackie Kent asked.
"God," Cotton replied. "I wasn't just going to let him stand out there and beat on me. And, I just yelled. That's probably why I don't have a voice. I was yelling so loud for the neighbors. No, I was hitting him every time he hit me."
She said she gave him her wedding rings, but that he still wanted another ring on her index finger, and that's when he bit her.
"The next thing I know, he'd taken my hand and had it in his mouth," Cotton explained. "And that's when I started scratching his face with this hand. And he just kept biting it until he got the ring off."
He eventually fled and she called 911.
Her family, including her three sons, are asking for the public's help in tracking the suspect, who is still missing. There is a $1,000 reward through Crime Stoppers for information leading to an arrest and conviction.
Cotton said she wants the man responsible for her injuries to clean up his life and give back to the community. Police describe the suspect as a man in his thirties.
"I forgave him," Cotton added. "I just want him to clean his life up and do some community work, and stop trying to take people's lives and what they didn't earn."
Cotton says she can still work at her church, cook and do the things she loves to do even with her injuries. She was not comfortable showing her injured hand as she is set to get a prosthetic finger in mid-December.
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Anyone with information on the suspect is urged to contact SPD's Violent Crime Tip Line at (206)233-5000 or submit a tip anonymously through Crime Stoppers at (800)222-TIPS (8477).