Dec 30, 2020 2 min read

State police said a fight over the cremains of a woman’s parents led to an assault with a baseball bat.

According to court paperwork, Tiffany Gillen went to the 129 Herring Road home in Menallen Township Dec. 22 to retrieve her parent’s ashes. Police said she reported she was upset because she thought her mother’s ashes were dumped into the toilet by her brother’s girlfriend, Alissa Ann Madich, 36, of Carmichaels.

Police said Gillen got into an argument with her brother, Isaac Fabian, about the ashes, and he agreed to let her take them. When Gillen went into the house, however, she was met by Madich, who was holding a baseball bat, police said.

Madich allegedly told Gillen she wasn’t coming into the house and swung the bat, striking Gillen in the head. After moving to the front porch, Gillen told police, she was struck by the bat in the head a second time before she went to her car and called for help.

Police reported Gillen was treated on scene for a laceration to her head, and that a small red and blue baseball bat was found at the scene, which Gillen reported to be the one with which she was hit.

Madich is charged with one count each of aggravated assault, simple assault and harassment. She was released on $50,000 unsecured bail, and has a preliminary hearing scheduled for Jan. 4.