The Herald Citizen

Posted February 6, 2013 at 3:18 pm

A woman whose brother was arrested last summer for allegedly beating a man with a baseball bat and robbing him has now been arrested in the case herself.

Christina Marie Douglas, 28, of Boatman Street, Cookeville, is charged with attempted second degree murder, especially aggravated robbery, and especially aggravated kidnapping, the same charges that were filed against her brother, Donald Ray Williams, 39, last July, right after the incident occurred.

Police allege that Christina Marie Douglas lured the victim to her place, where Donald Ray Williams beat him, locked him in a bathroom and stole cash and an iPhone from him.

The victim, Bruce Alan Steward, 33, of Cookeville, reportedly suffered a factured skull, broken ribs, and other injuries in the attack.

It happened at a Carolina Avenue residence on July 2, 2012.

Stewart managed to escape the scene that night and someone took him to the hospital, where police were notified of the incident.

Cookeville Police Detective Sgt. Chase Mathis began an investigation which led to the arrest of Donald Ray Williams.

And the detective continued investigating after the arrest, focusing on the role that William’s sister played in what happened.

Earlier this month, Detective Mathis presented evidence against Douglas to the Putnam County Grand Jury, which issued an indictment against her.

That indictment alleges that Douglas and Williams attempted to kill Bruce Alan Stewart that night by “unlawfully, intentionally and knowlingly” using a “deadly weapon,” a baseball bat, to injure him and to hold him against his will while beating and robbing him.

At the time of the incident, police said Douglas had invited Stewart to her residence and that once he was there, Williams hit him in the head and “in his mid-section” with a baseball bat, then confined him in a locked bathroom for three hours. Investigators did not say how Stewart managed to escape and make it to the hospital.

Williams was arrested later that day and has been in the Putnam jail ever since under a $555,000 bond.

Douglas was arrested Friday, January 25, by Officer Justin Long, who was serving the grand jury indictment on her.

Her bond was set at $25,000, and she is to be arraigned in Criminal Court on March 19.