A 47-year-old North Attleboro woman who went on a violent rampage earlier this year and severely injured her girlfriend, was sentenced to serve up to five-and-a-half years in state prison, Bristol County District Attorney Thomas M. Quinn III announced.

Tanisha Baxter pled guilty on August 10 to indictments charging her with mayhem and four counts of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon.

At about 3:45 a.m. on January 31, North Attleboro Police responded to a disturbance at an apartment.  The defendant had kicked in and broke a door to a neighbor’s apartment, where her girlfriend was seeking refuge from a previous assault.  Hours prior to the door being kicked in, the defendant had brutally assaulted her girlfriend.

The girlfriend was taken to Sturdy Memorial Hospital, where police observed her to have two black eyes, a large black and blue bump on her forehead, visible cuts above her eyes and on her chin, a gash along one of her arms, along with several bruises on her legs, arms, back tailbone and hips.  The defendant had struck the victim with a dresser drawer and free weights, and also slashed her with a knife.

During a sentencing hearing in Fall River Superior Court before Judge William White, Assistant District Attorney Courtney Cahill argued that the due to the severity of the incident and the victim’s statements regarding daily beatings she suffered at the hands of the defendant, she should serve five-and-a-half to eight-and-a-half years in prison.  The defense, however, argued for a more lenient one-and-a-half to two-and-a-half year prison term.  Judge White eventually sentenced the defendant to serve three-and-a-half to five-and-a-half years in prison, to be followed by two years of supervised probation. 

“This was a violent assault against the victim, who sustained serious injuries,” District Attorney Quinn said. “This defendant has a criminal history and needs to be kept off the street to protect the public.”

The defendant has previously served jail time for an indecent assault and battery on a child, has violate probation and has been the defendant in three separate restraining order matters.