A woman was arrested Monday afternoon and charged with malicious wounding after allegedly stabbing and biting another woman at the Transit Mall in downtown Charleston.
Marquita Mells told police just before 2 p.m. that she had been stabbed several times with a small knife by Octavia Mitchell, 19, of Renaissance Circle in Charleston, according to a criminal complaint filed late Monday in Kanawha Magistrate Court.
Police wrote that paramedics reported seeing stab wounds on the right side of Mells' abdomen and that her right bicep had several cuts and scrapes. Also, her left nipple appeared to have "almost been bitten completely off," the complaint states. Mells was taken to Charleston Area Medical Center's General Hospital.
Mitchell was arrested at about 2:30 p.m., said Lt. Steve Cooper, chief of detectives at the Charleston Police Department.
While processing the crime scene, police were told that Mitchell was at Graziano's Pizza causing a disturbance, according to the complaint. Mitchell was immediately detained when police arrived at the restaurant. She allegedly admitted to stabbing Mells but said she had done so in self defense, the complaint states.
Mitchell and Mells have allegedly had problems before, police wrote that Mitchell told them.
On Monday, Mitchell says that when she and her daughter were dropped off at the transit mall, Mells approached her and began saying that she didn't need to have her child outside in the heat, the complaint states. Mells then allegedly struck Mitchell in the face with a closed fist, Mitchell told police, they wrote.
The women fell to the ground and continued to fight, according to what Mitchell told police, the complaint states. While on the ground, Mitchell allegedly told police she started biting Mells.
Mitchell said she eventually stood up and pulled a small kitchen knife from her pocket and began stabbing Mells, police wrote.
Mitchell was taken to South Central Regional Jail. Kanawha Magistrate Ward Harshbarger set her bail at $15,000.