April Townsend, a 40-year-old South Carolina woman, has been charged with attempted murder after she allegedly tied a bag round a man’s head before trying to decapitate him with a machete.
Townsend, 40, was charged with attempted murder and arson for the brutal attack on David Mitchum in a Seneca, South Carolina home on Sunday, June 18.
According to police, Mitchum’s ear was split in two after the Townsend covered his head with two plastic bags and swung a machete at him. She then threw an ax at him as well.
Afterwards, Townsend then attempted to set Mitchum’s truck on fire as he tried to flee the scene. Police reports indicate that Townsend had put paper in the truck’s gas tank before lighting it.
via WYFF:
Deputies were called to a home on Mema Lane in Seneca about a disturbance involving a man and a woman. They found April Dawn Townsend in the yard of the home. She told deputies that a man was inside the house. Deputies found smoke coming from the house but no one inside.
Deputies said as they spoke to Townsend, she appeared to be oblivious to what was going and they had a hard time getting her to respond. They said they also discovered burned hair on Townsend’s clothing. Deputies later learned that the man involved in the disturbance was at the hospital receiving treatment for injuries. When they spoke with the man, he told them that Townsend previously threatened him and told him that other people were coming to crucify her.
Townsend attacked the man on Sunday, deputies say. She put two plastic bags over his head and swung a machete at his head to try to decapitate him, cutting his ear off, warrants say. She then threw an ax at him, warrants say. The man said Townsend tried to set his truck on fire by putting paper in the fuel door and lighting it and by putting a gas can on paper in the bed of the truck and setting it on fire. Deputies confirmed that the truck had evidence that someone had tried to set it on fire.
According to police, this is the second time Townsend has been accused of trying to kill someone with a plastic bag.
Townsend was arrested on Sunday, June 18, and charged with attempted murder, second-degree arson, attempted arson and possession of a weapon during commission of a violent crime.
She is being held at the Oconee County Detention Center in South Carolina.
