Man who attacked his mother with knife gets 15 months

A Clark County Superior Court judge sentenced a Battle Ground man to 15 months in prison Wednesday, after the man pleaded guilty to slashing his mother and putting his sister in a chokehold during an apparent mental health crisis.

Austin R. Puckett, 20, pleaded guilty that day to two counts of second-degree domestic violence assault and one count of third-degree assault, the latter count for fighting with an officer during his arrest Oct. 4, 2017.

According to court records, his mother said he went for a walk that afternoon, then returned home to Battle Ground Mobile Estates with a “strange look” on his face and his hands behind his back.

He then attacked his mother, slicing her near her right collarbone and her hands as she wrestled him away. Her daughter ran over to help. In the struggle, he dropped the knife and put the girl in a chokehold.

When she broke free, she asked her brother what he was doing, and he replied, “What do you mean?” according to court records.

The plea came as part of a plea agreement between the county prosecutor’s office and Puckett’s attorney,  both of whom described what happened as the result of poorly treated mental illness.

Puckett said he had been on antipsychotic medication, but stopped taking it when he was no longer able to afford it.

Superior Court Judge Gregory Gonzales agreed with the attorney’s recommended prison term in sentencing Puckett to 15 months.

The sentence includes a no-contact order for Puckett’s mother and sister, and a provision requiring mental health treatment.