Dog defends Minneapolis family after man attacks mother with hammer in her home

A Minneapolis mother is recovering from a terrifying attack inside her home. 

Maria Grant sustained severe injuries that left her with six staples in her head. She said she's recovering physically, but the emotional toll is only growing with her attacker on the loose.

About three weeks ago, Grant says she heard a knock at the door just before 9 p.m. and opened it. She says she was met with a hammer.

"He's just hitting me over the head with a hammer, and all I'm feeling is the hits and then the waves of blood coming down my face and he didn't stop," Grant said.

She said the man standing there was someone she knew and worked for her, doing yard work and walking her dog. But that night, she says he was wearing a wig.

While on the floor bleeding, Grant said the man tried to go upstairs where her young children were sleeping with the hammer. She says her dog stopped the attacker from reaching her kids.

"She was biting him," Grant recalled. "And I could see the blood coming out of his legs from his jeans." 

Damonte Richardson is charged with second-degree assault with a dangerous weapon.

According to charging documents, Richardson was arrested after showing up at North Memorial Hospital with bite wounds. He was released before charges were filed. 

"I feel like they failed me, and I feel like they won't find him, and it'll take months for them to find him and then by that time he probably would have did something else to somebody else," Grant said.

There is an active warrant for his arrest now. 

WCCO reached out to the Hennepin County Attorney's office late Thursday night but has yet to hear back.