A Pierce County mother now faces four attempted murder charges after soldiers intervened when she allegedly chased her teenage daughter with a knife following a violent Interstate 5 crash.
Fox News reported that Janieka Amber Marie Ellington, 35, is accused of trying to kill her two daughters both by stabbing or cutting them and by crashing their vehicle. The case grew out of a Monday morning rollover wreck on southbound Interstate 5 near DuPont, Washington.
Prosecutors filed four counts of attempted first-degree murder, two counts of vehicular assault, and one count of felony harassment involving threats to kill, according to Pierce County Superior Court records. Two of the attempted-murder counts allege intent to kill by stabbing or cutting. The other two allege intent to kill through the vehicle crash.
Three bystanders, including two soldiers from Joint Base Lewis-McChord, disarmed Ellington and held her until Washington State Patrol troopers arrived. The 9-year-old girl suffered multiple broken bones and a stab wound. The 15-year-old was hospitalized without serious injuries.
Troopers responded shortly before 9 a.m. Monday to reports of an SUV driving erratically near mile marker 118. The vehicle struck a concrete barrier, veered toward the right shoulder, crossed back into traffic, hit a semi-truck, struck the barrier again, and rolled over near Center Drive at Exit 118.
Court records state Ellington told hospital staff and troopers she had been drinking whiskey the night before and was driving without sleep. One of her daughters told investigators that Ellington believed people were following them before the crash.
After the wreck, witnesses said Ellington chased her teenage daughter with a knife and threatened to kill her. That is when the bystanders moved in. Cases of parents charged in violence against their own children have drawn national attention before, including a Memphis mother charged after a fatal home confrontation.
Witness Nathan Wilkinson came upon the wreck while driving to work. He described what he saw and later called 911 as others subdued the woman.
Wilkinson told KING 5:
"There's people standing around, then all of a sudden there was a flash, and then the two soldiers jumped on a person.... I heard a scream at that time,"
He also said:
"I saw one of the soldiers had a knife in his hand that he had dislodged from the person they tackled."
Wilkinson praised the service members for refusing to leave the girls in danger.
"They didn't run away, they didn't pass, drive on by. They stopped and helped,"
Sgt. Ricardo A. Nunez of the 7th Infantry Division, stationed at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, was among those who intervened. He spoke afterward about the decision to act.
"I just did my part,"
Nunez added:
"I am glad I was there to help those girls and was just in the right place at the right time."
High-profile cases involving mothers and severe charges have also sparked political debate elsewhere, such as when Nancy Mace demanded harsh accountability in the Lindsay Clancy matter.
Charging documents say prosecutors also alleged domestic violence and aggravating circumstances. Those include that Ellington used a position of trust to facilitate the offenses and that the victims were particularly vulnerable or unable to resist.
A judge ordered a competency evaluation on Tuesday. A competency hearing is scheduled for Oct. 20 in Pierce County Superior Court. Fox News Digital reached out to the Washington State Patrol, the Pierce County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office, and Joint Base Lewis-McChord for comment.
Separate legal fights over mothers facing extreme consequences have continued in other arenas, including when Trump declined a pardon request and called that case a state matter.
The younger daughter left the scene with multiple broken bones and a stab wound. The older daughter was hospitalized but avoided serious injuries. Both were inside the SUV during the sequence of barrier strikes, the semi impact, and the rollover before the alleged knife chase began on the roadside.
Wilkinson hoped the service members would be recognized for what they did. The soldiers and the third bystander kept Ellington restrained until troopers took over. No names were released for the second soldier or the additional bystander in the initial reporting.
Other recent cases have shown mothers swept into serious criminal process under very different facts, from an Iranian mother sentenced after protest-related charges to national-security detentions. The common thread here is simpler: two children needed protection on a Washington freeway, and people in uniform provided it.
Ellington remains the sole defendant named in the Pierce County filings. The court will next address the ordered competency evaluation before the scheduled Oct. 20 hearing. The daughters’ full medical updates and any toxicology results beyond Ellington’s own statement about whiskey and lack of sleep were not detailed in the initial court records summarized by reporters.
When a parent is accused of turning a family car into a weapon and then a knife on her own children, the public expects clear charges, a full airing of the evidence, and no excuses that erase the harm. The soldiers who stopped this roadside attack showed the standard ordinary Americans still meet when it counts.
