INKSTER, Mich. (WXYZ) — A 63-year-old woman is recovering in the ICU after police say she was stabbed 12 times in a random attack at a Dollar Tree in Inkster earlier this week. Her daughter is now speaking out about her mother's condition and the family's fight for justice.
Phyllis Robinson was shopping at the Dollar Tree at Cherry Hill and Inkster Road Monday afternoon when police say another customer attacked her without provocation.
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"30 minutes later somebody attacks her, a stranger that she, she didn't know him, she's just shopping at a store and somebody just walks up to her. There's no words for that," Robinson's daughter, Brittany Clark, said.
Clark says she was on the phone with her mother Monday afternoon, making plans for the evening. Not long afterward, she received a call from Inkster police.
"My heart just kinda like dropped. Because I - it's like a bad dream," Clark said.
Robinson, who is a social worker, was transported to the hospital and placed in an induced coma until she stabilized from her wounds.
"She has been stabbed on her side. Her stomach," Clark said.
Clark says she has been at the hospital every day since the attack.
"Every day I've been here, like every single day, um, I let her rest. I let her, you know, know that I'm here. I hold her hand. I cleaned her fingernails because she had, like, residue from blood under her nails," Clark said.
Inkster police arrested Stephen Ross, 22, immediately after the attack. Ross lives in a group home not far from the Dollar Tree. I reached out to workers at that home several times, but they have yet to comment. Ross is now facing felony charges of assault.
"It's unreal; it's unimaginable that somebody could be so evil to do that to somebody, like, it doesn't make sense to us," Clark said.
Robinson is now stabilized and is no longer in a coma, but remains in the ICU.
"But it's been hard; it's been really hard. We can't sleep; like, it's hard," Clark said.
Clark describes her mother as strong and says she will keep fighting.
"I am just focused on her. I don't, I don't care about anything else. I care about my mama being able to come home, whether we, whatever we have to do. I want her to be home," Clark said.
The family has an online donation drive set up to help pay for expenses. To visit that link, CLICK HERE.
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