SPOKANE, Wash. — A five-year-old girl who suffered multiple stab wounds in an attack that left her mother dead is breathing on her own, according to an update from her aunt.
Kassie was found dead from multiple stab wounds in her home on North Adams Street on Sunday, April 11 and her five-year-old daughter, Lilly, was hospitalized after she also suffered stab wounds in the attack. KREM 2 is intentionally not sharing their last names to protect the child's privacy.
Spokane police identified 41-year-old Joshua Phillips, who had been in a relationship with Kassie, as the suspect. He was booked into the Spokane County Jail on April 18 on charges of second-degree murder and second-degree attempted murder. His bond was set at $1.5 million.
Court records indicate Phillips has a criminal history dating back to 2001, with charges including domestic violence, disorderly conduct and malicious mischief.
According to the update posted by Lilly's aunt Sierra Kellogg to a GoFundMe campaign, Lilly's breathing tube was removed on Wednesday, April 21 and she is "100% breathing on her own."
"Her esophagus does still have a tear in it and some of that fluid is leaking into her body. She is still fighting an infection and that will be a long road to recovery," Kellogg wrote in part. "My brother was able to hold Lilly in his lap last night and cradle her which is the exact medicine she needs right now."
Supporters have raised more than $131,000 as of Friday to help Lilly's family with the cost of her recovery.
Two of Kassie's other children arrived at her North Spokane home on the day of the attack after their father dropped them off, according to court records. The children then tried to enter the home but the doors were locked. They used a ladder and were able to climb through a window to enter the home.
The children noted that the home was in disarray when they entered and thought this was strange, court records say. They walked around to the location of the unattached garage and could hear a vehicle running inside. The children said they tried to break into the garage but were unable to do so and someone subsequently called 911.
The children told investigators that their mother had kicked Phillips out of her home two days earlier, according to court records.
Investigators also learned that Kassie had apparently received about 100 text messages from Phillips on Saturday, April 10, one day before her death. One of the investigators was told that some of the text messages sent by Phillips were “very disturbing.”