ARLINGTON, Texas -- Prosecutors said they will charge a 66-year-old Arlington woman with a hate crime in connection with the beating of a black neighbor.
Officers said Grace Head beat Silk Littlejohn with a 2-by-4 in the front lawn of Littlejohn's home near Fielder Road and Sanford Street, which is under construction, on Dec. 19. Racist graffiti was sprayed on the house a few days later, police said.
Prosecutors said they are upgrading the assault charge to a hate crime. The enhanced charge means Head faces up to 99 years in prison, instead of 20 years.
"I feel that justice is going to be served, hopefully," Littlejohn's fiancé, Broderick Gamble, said.
He said Head hurled racial slurs as she swung a piece of wood at Littlejohn, striking her in the head.
"I really can't say that on camera, honestly," Gamble said. "But it was very derogatory. 'You didn't get the picture? You didn't get the hint? You know, we're not going to let you so-and-so's move in here.'"
Neighbor Willie Cantrell said the neighborhood is not racist.
"No, this is not a racist neighborhood," Cantrell said.
Police said they are still trying to identify who spray-painted racial slurs on the couple's home on Dec. 21.
Gamble said he wants to keep the graffiti there for all to see.
"To me, that's a reflection on whoever did this," he said. "That's a reflection on them, so let them look at it for a few minutes. We had to."
Neighbors said they want the graffiti to be removed.
"I don't want to see it," neighbor Willie Cantrell said. "The people across the street don't want to see it."
He said the graffiti had been up for long enough.
"At least put a tarp over it," Cantrell said. "Everybody's got enough of this hate."
Some neighbors said they are upset with the Littlejohn and Gamble over how long it's taking them to build their house, but that it is not racial.
The couple have been building the house themselves for two years.
Head's attorney told NBC 5 that Head is not racist, but would not talk about the case in detail.