Spokane man gets at least eight years in prison for beating homeless woman with pliers, strangling her at Cd’A hotel

A 31-year-old Spokane man who beat a homeless woman with a pair of pliers and tried to suffocate her earlier this year at a Coeur d’Alene hotel was sentenced to a minimum of eight years in prison.

Steven P. Mott pleaded guilty in February to battery with intent to commit murder. District Judge Richard Christensen sentenced Mott Friday to 16 years in prison with parole eligibility after eight years, according to a Kootenai County Prosecuting Attorney’s aOffice news release.

Officers responded to a medical emergency Jan. 6 at a hotel and found a woman who was bleeding from her nose and head from multiple lacerations, prosecutors said.

The investigation revealed the woman was homeless and Mott invited her into a hotel room so she had somewhere to sleep.

After refusing Mott’s sexual advances, the woman went to sleep in a separate bed only to be woken up by Mott hitting her on the head with a pair of pliers, according to the release. The woman was able to wrestle the pliers away from Mott.

Mott then beat and choked the woman and placed a pillow over her face in an attempt to suffocate her before she was able to get away and seek help.

Officers arrested Mott inside the hotel room. He admitted to officers he tried to kill the woman, prosecutors said.