ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (WFLA) — Family members are preparing to say their final goodbyes to Lisa Rogers Eaton after detectives in Florida say a man attacked her with a hatchet Tuesday morning.
According to the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office, deputies found 56-year-old Eaton with a hatchet “protruding from her head” at the Silver Lake Mobile Home Park.
Detectives said the suspect — later identified as 40-year-old Michael Dougherty — left the area before they arrived. His vehicle was spotted near Gainesville later that day.
The sheriff’s office said Alachua County deputies arrested Dougherty during a traffic stop just before 3 a.m. on Thursday. He was booked into the Alachua County Jail on a warrant for attempted second-degree murder and is awaiting extradition to Pinellas County.
Eaton’s family is heartbroken.
Donna Voye, Eaton’s older sister, described Eaton as a caring person who thinks the best of everyone.
“She’ll help anybody,” Voye said. “She’ll give you anything you want.”
That is what Voye said Eaton was doing for Dougherty. According to Voye, Eaton was letting him stay with her and her husband after he lost his job.
“We don’t understand it,” Voye said. “We can’t understand it because she wouldn’t hurt anybody.”
The sheriff’s office said Eaton was being monitored closely at a nearby hospital due to the seriousness of the injury. Eaton’s family is expected to take her off of life support on Saturday, after gathering in the hospital and saying a prayer.
The family is also raising money for a funeral, and gave Nexstar’s WFLA information for those who want to donate.
The Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office is investigating the incident.
“No family should ever get a call like we got, telling … them that their family member [was] brutally attacked as our little sister was,” Voye said.