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Jury: That’s attempted murder
Published 12:06am Saturday, October 13, 2012
In a strange plot to collect a family member’s Social Security check, an Andalusia woman is facing an attempted murder charge after she allegedly beat her cousin in the head with a baseball bat and put her into a coma.
Bobbie Jean Carroll, 48, was initially arrested by the Andalusia Police Department in April for first-degree assault on Penny Gail King.
According to the arrest affidavit, King was found semi-conscious, lying in the middle of Smith Street in Andalusia. King was taken to Andalusia Regional Hospital and later air lifted to Southeast Alabama Medical Center in Dothan, where she underwent brain surgery and put into a medically induced coma.
“Paramedics stated that when they arrived on scene, King was saying, ‘Bobbie Jean,’ repeatedly,” the affidavit read. When questioned if that was her name, King said, “No. My name is Penny.”
King confirmed the story once she was released from the hospital.
The two have a documented history of conflict – namely, two incidents in March where, in one instance, Carroll allegedly sprayed King with pepper spray.
Records show the disagreements stem from Carroll’s attempts to maintain custody of King’s disabled mother – and her Social Security checks. Records also show that the two women were headed to probate court the day after the incident; however, that hearing didn’t happen.
Instead, the state alleges that when King left a friend’s home on Chestnut Street the night before that hearing, Carroll attempted to run her down in the street, jumped out of the vehicle and then allegedly struck her over the head with a blue baseball bat.
An independent witness also put Carroll’s vehicle at the scene.
Records show that Carroll was interviewed and denied the incident. She was subsequently charged with first-degree assault; however, that charge was upgraded during the September grand jury term.
Carroll was arrested Thursday on one count of attempted murder and booked into the Covington County Jail under a $60,000 bond.
