Carroll Township man to stand trial in brutal assault of mother, girlfriend
When Carroll police Lt. Ryan Lenzi arrived at a township home for a report of domestic violence last month, he encountered Heather Ferguson drenched in blood with her eyes so swollen she could barely see.
“Blood everywhere,” Lenzi said. “Her hair was soaked in blood like she had just gotten out of the shower.”
But as Lenzi tried to aid Ferguson, he soon learned that there was another victim inside the house at 83 Grant Road, prompting him to go inside to check on her. There, he found 78-year-old Madlynn Fedrick lying on the living room floor with her face and body both bloodied and swollen.
Photos showing the physical conditions of Ferguson and Fedrick at the scene were displayed on a large television screen in the courtroom Friday morning during the preliminary hearing for Wayne Morris Fedrick, who is charged with assaulting his girlfriend and mother inside the home they shared. Fedrick, who was shackled and wearing an orange jail jumpsuit, looked down at the defense table in front of him as the graphic images were displayed to the court.
“This is probably one of the worst assaults I’ve seen in my 15 years as a police officer,” Lenzi said.
Fedrick, 52, was ordered by District Judge Mark Wilson to stand trial on all charges, including attempted homicide and two counts each of aggravated assault, simple assault and reckless endangerment after hearing testimony in Washington County Central Court.
Ferguson testified that she was trying to sleep in the basement in the early hours of Sept. 2 when she heard her boyfriend and his mother arguing upstairs.
“They were arguing,” she said, prompting her to go upstairs to see what was happening. “I said, ‘Calm down. It’s late. Why are you arguing?'”
After seeming to diffuse the situation, she went back downstairs and tried to relax before she heard the fighting resume. But when she went back upstairs, she witnessed Fedrick kicking his mother as she lay on the floor. Ferguson said she tried to get her boyfriend to stop, but he threw her into the kitchen sink. When she stepped in front of the older woman, Fedrick picked up Ferguson by the chin and threw her to the ground before kicking her in the head 15 to 20 times, she testified.
Fedrick then threw Ferguson down the steps and beat her over the head with a mirror and television, she recounted.
“I don’t remember anything else after that until I regained consciousness,” Ferguson testified.
When Ferguson awoke hours later, she saw Fedrick sleeping on the couple’s bed in the basement, so she attempted to call 911 but the phone lines were dead. Ferguson went outside and flagged down a motorist, who called for help, prompting Lenzi to rush to the scene. Lenzi testified he was “absolutely caught off guard by her appearance” when he saw Ferguson, and he needed a moment to collect himself before asking her what happened.
He then went into the house and found Madlynn Fedrick on the floor, so he called for paramedics to help both women. Lenzi guarded the basement door with his handgun drawn as medics tended to Madlynn Fedrick in case her son came upstairs.
When another police officer arrived at the scene, Lenzi and the other patrolman went down to the basement and arrested Fedrick, who was still sleeping. Afterward, Lenzi said he found a broken mirror covered in blood that he said had been used to strike Ferguson “several times” due to how fragmented the glassed appeared to be.
Ferguson testified that the orbital bone in her right eye was broken and she has permanent paralysis of her pupil in that eye that’s led to some loss of vision. She also suffered a concussion and 30 lacerations on her head. Madlynn Fedrick has numerous broken bones and head trauma, and she is still undergoing rehabilitation for her injuries, Lenzi testified.
Fedrick is being held without bond at the Washington County jail while awaiting trial.