DECATUR (MCT) — A family party turned into a bloody melee when two men got into a fistfight, which was interrupted by a woman stabbing one of the combatants with a knife and pummeling him with a crowbar, while another woman broke a bottle on his head.
The two men, 25 and 40 years old, were fighting in the street in front of a near-northside house, when the younger man got the upper hand, witnesses told police.
Ariesca Hughlett, 32, and Tiffany N. Hughlett, 29, then worked together to try to help the older man, according to both of those women and several witnesses.
The police arrived on the scene in the 1100 block of East Walnut Street about 10:04 p.m. Friday.
Ariesca Hughlett admitted to police that when she saw the younger man on top of the older man, repeatedly punching him, she "took a knife and started stabbing (the victim) in the back area," according to a sworn statement by a Decatur police officer.
Tiffany Hughlett told police that she "tried pulling" the 25-year-old man off of the other man "as Ariesca was stabbing" him.
"Tiffany advised she had a bottle in her hand and might have struck (the victim) in the head with it," according to the statement.
The victim was taken by ambulance to a hospital where he was treated for lacerations and puncture wounds to his back and upper body, and a 3-inch-long laceration to the back of his neck, which required sutures.
The victim told police the neck injury was the result of a bottle attack by Tiffany Hughlett, while he suffered the other injuries as a result of Ariesca Hughlett stabbing him with a knife.
Each woman was arrested on charges of aggravated battery and mob action and booked into the Macon County Jail.
Ariesca faces an additional charge of possession of cannabis because a correctional officer reported that she had concealed 1.1 grams of marijuana in her bra.
After each woman posted $1,000 cash bond, they were both released from jail, pending their March 20 arraignments in circuit court.