Beaten woman believed suspect ‘would have killed her’ if a hotel employee hadn’t knocked on the door

A woman reported being injured by someone she considered a friend in a room at an Okatie hotel on Thursday morning.

According to a Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office report, the woman had multiple injuries to her face, blood in her hair due to an open wound, a swollen left wrist and right elbow, and small lacerations on her knees. She was treated at Coastal Carolina Hospital.

The assault happened in the early morning Thursday in a room at the Candlewood Suites on Young Clyde Court. The report was released on Tuesday.

The woman told the responding deputy that the female suspect had been drinking. The suspect then began cursing at the other woman before asking for money for food, the report said.

The two argued about the money, before the woman tossed some money onto the bed and it fell onto the floor. At that point, the suspect “jumped” the woman.

She reported that the suspect slammed her face into the bathroom floor, punched and kicked her in the face, ribs and stomach area, and attempted to suffocate her with a pillow, the sheets and her hands. The woman said she tried to get to the phone, but the suspect ripped out the cord.

“(The victim) stated she thought (the suspect) would have killed her if a hotel employee had not knocked on the door around 7 a.m.,” the report said.

The victim was unable to provide more information about the suspect other than her name and description; she said the two had been friends.

The suspect reportedly left the hotel on foot in the direction of the Food Lion grocery store.

The woman told the deputy that she believed the suspect took her wallet and cellphone. She reported five missing credit cards and $810 in cash stolen.

No arrest was listed in the report, and no one with a name matching that of the suspect was booked into the Beaufort County Detention Center, according to the jail’s records on Tuesday.

This story was originally published July 25, 2017 at 6:10 PM with the headline "Beaten woman believed suspect ‘would have killed her’ if a hotel employee hadn’t knocked on the door."