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MIAMI (CBSMiami) — The man accused of beating up his roommate on Valentine’s Day- leaving her in a coma- appeared before a judge on Tuesday.
Byron Mitchell’s attorney pushed for his attempted murder charge to be reduced so he could be released on bond. The defense argued that the original arrest report did not support a murder charge. Mitchell has said he did it in self-defense after he says Jones came at him with a knife three times.
The judge agreed with the state’s request and upped the charge to attempted first degree premeditated murder which again meant he would remain locked up with no bond.
Also in the courtroom at that time was the victim’s mother – Aimee Cabo Nikolov who said her daughter, 23-year old Danielle Jones, suffered severe brain trauma due to the attack. Jones has since opened her eyes.
After the hearing, Nikolov was grateful for the judge’s ruling.
“I think God was watching over this case, and they’re not going to let an animal free,” she said.
The victim’s mother called Mitchell’s self-defense claim absurd.
“You don’t choke someone to the point that they don’t wake up from a coma for 17 days, because they’ve been asphyxiated and deprived of oxygen to their brain,” Nikolov said. Her daughter remains in a coma, unresponsive.
Mitchell told police he and Danielle were in a relationship but Danielle’s mother said he was her daughter’s new roommate whom she found after placing an ad on Craigslist – that they were virtual strangers.
Judge Roldolfo Ruiz agreed that the alleged behavior on Mitchell’s part justified upping the charge against him to first degree attempted murder.
“Someone that starts off with choking, and then moves on to bashing of the head on the floor four or five times, has made a conscious decision that they are seeking to terminate a life,” the judge concluded.
Nikolov said her daughter shared a bottle of wine with Mitchell and a friend on Valentine’s Day. Sometime after the friend left, Mitchell attacked her.
The attack left Danielle needing a blood transfusion and 300 stitches to close the many wounds to her face and head.
Mitchell has another bond hearing set for March 10th.
