Dish driner
A Highland County woman who survived a vicious stabbing attack credits her pre-teen son with saving her life. Today, she shared her story only with Local 12's Rich Jaffe.
Amanda Newland was viciously attacked on August 14th in her own home. Authorities say Newland was stabbed repeatedly by Jeffrey Armstrong...he even stabbed her in the eye.
Newland tells a frightening story of obsession and violence at the hands of Armstrong. It is a story of control and terror that has continued even as Armstrong has been behind bars at the Highland County Justice Center.
Newland says she met Armstrong 3 years ago at the Highland County fair. She says they were never more than friends, but he wanted more. When she was attacked, Newland says she'd been trying for a couple of days to get Armstrong out of her house, but he simply wouldn't leave. Finally he grabbed a knife out of the dish drainer and began stabbing her. "Just thought about my kids and thought about surviving it because I wasn't gonna die, it wasn't my time... I wasn't ready... I fought it."
Newland says after Armstrong planted the knife in her eye, it got even worse. "WHEN HE WAS STANDING OVER YOU,YOU'VE GOT THE KNIFE IN YOUR EYE, AND HE SAYS OH GOD LET ME SEE WHAT I'VE DONE...AND THEN HE STARTS STABS YOU AGAIN?Yes...multiple times...it's kind a hard to believe, but it's true...(laughs)"
At that moment, Newland's 12 year old son, Brandon came to her rescue. "I was screaming, he heard me and came out of his room and seen what was going on and he went into his bedroom, got his weapon and chased him out the front door...if it wasn't for that I probably wouldn't be here."
When Judge David McKenna heard that Armstrong was continuing to make phone calls to Newland and her family in violation of a court order, he warned Armstrong and ordered the bond raised to $250,000.
Behind Amanda's tears you can hear thanks, and pride. "If it wasn't for my 12 year old, I wouldn't be here now. I owe my life to my son."
In court today, the judge talked about the fact that Armstrong had a domestic violence conviction as well as an earlier felonious assault charge for which he received a 3 to 15 year prison sentence. Newland
