Pregnant Woman At Center Of Attempted Murder Case Hopes Her Story Will Remind Domestic Abuse Survivors Of Inner Strength
COAL CENTER, Pa. (KDKA) -- There is new information about an attempted murder case in Washington County.
For the first time since the alleged incident last week, the victim spoke exclusively with KDKA, hoping her story will remind domestic abuse survivors of their inner strength.
"We think that we deserve that stuff, and we think that's all there is. We live with them, and we don't want to move on. But there are people that will help you," said Cassie King.
King, 30, is named in court documents as the victim in the Dec. 14 stabbing on Spring Street in Coal Center Borough. King alleges she was stabbed by her boyfriend, 28-year-old Dylan Lesnik, who police arrested Friday.
"I know that my pain is over now because he is in jail," King told KDKA.
The two were together for four months. King said they met online and spent the first two months in bliss and the last two months living through hell.
"Constantly wondering what I was doing wrong. Why can't I change this man? Why can't I help him? Why does he not want to change? Yeah, in hell," said King.
King said Lesnik was abusive at least once before but she said he snapped last week. She said he punched her repeatedly, sliced off her earlobe and stabbed her in the stomach several times while she was pregnant with their baby.
"During the struggle, I was telling him, 'Dylan, the baby, the baby, don't you care about the baby?' And he just kept going on," said King.
"He wanted to kill me," King added.
Police arrested Lesnik last week after he confessed that he stabbed his neighbor, Marshall Craig, to death four days after allegedly stabbing King.
On Tuesday, another suspect was identified in the King stabbing — Lesnik's friend Troy Chiera, who allegedly posed as a first responder the night of the incident and threatened King to lie about a suspect as she was bleeding on the floor, according to court records.
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While the investigation continues, King remains strong for her growing baby, who miraculously survived the attack
"I can't be weak for the baby. I can't go crawl into a hole because I am bringing another life into this world," said King.
Bond was denied for Chiera, who is now in jail on criminal conspiracy and intimidation charges.
Court records also claim he helped Lesnik hide the butcher knife used to allegedly stab King and helped sell the getaway vehicle to a used car dealer.
His preliminary hearing is scheduled for next week.
