MIDWEST CITY, Oklahoma -
Kayla Elliott says she still has nightmares about what happened to
her.
"And I just remember getting cut and bleeding everywhere," said
Elliott, who is recovering at home. "I just remember falling down and thinking
I'm about to die because I had never seen so much blood before in my life"
The 29-year-old woman used to play basketball for the University
of Tulsa, and recently moved to the metro to live with her father. She says
their upstairs neighbor is the one who attacked her, verbally and physically, all
the while bashing her for her sexual orientation.
"And I was scared and just to have somebody on top of you telling
you ‘you're going to die' and it's not nothing you've done to anybody it's just
because you're gay," said Elliot.
Elliott had to have 18 stitches to close up the cut on her head. She
also has several defensive wounds.
She says the upstairs neighbor attacked her at the Yorkshire
Apartments near Air Depot and Reno.
Elliott says they got into a verbal argument first, and then the
neighbor went upstairs, got a knife, hid behind one of the buildings, and then
lunged at her and started slashing.
"And to have somebody doing that to you, I really thought I was
going to die," she said.
Police arrested 38-year-old Camino Nicole Maxwell at the
apartments across the street. Court documents reveal she admitted stabbing Elliot,
but said Elliot attacked her, and that she acted in self-defense. But Elliot says
that's not what happened.
"It's all because I don't look like everybody else. It's because
I'm different. I know people are going to have their opinions, but that doesn't
give you a right to put your hands on me," she said.
Now a Facebook page has been created called justice for Kayla to
offer support and alert others about the attack.
"And just to see the community come together and everybody be so
supportive, I mean it's really unreal."
Maxwell is currently being held in the Oklahoma County Jail on an assault
and battery charge. Her bond was set at $5,000. Maxwell has yet to be formally
charged.
Elliott wants them to up the charges and considers what happened
to be a hate crime. News 9 checked and sexual orientation is not protected
under the state's hate crime statute.
29-year-old Kayla Elliot used to play basketball for the University of Tulsa, and recently moved to the metro to live with her father.
Elliott had to have 18 stitches to close up the cut on her head. She also has several defensive wounds.
