As 5-year-old stabbing victim begins talking, walking again, suspect’s trial could be delayed

On April 11, Spokane police found a 5-year-old girl laying beside her mother in their family’s garage, critically injured with stab wounds in her throat and several organs. When police reached her mother, Kassie Dewey, she was dead.

After two weeks and three days in a local ICU, 5-year-old Lilly Schmidt is finally able to talk and take short walks with a walker, according to an update on the family’s GoFundMe.

Lilly has had multiple surgeries and was sedated for more than a week to prevent tears in her delicate injuries, according to updates from the family. While sedated, a wound in her throat drained into her chest and lungs, causing infection, which added a fever to Lilly’s battle to heal.

By last Thursday, Lilly was able to breathe on her own again and her father could hold her in his lap. By Tuesday, she could walk with the help of a walker. Doctors are running tests to see if there will be permanent damage to Lilly‘s esophagus, according to an update on the GoFundMe.

Lilly is still in the ICU, the update said.

Dewey had kicked her boyfriend, 41-year-old Joshua Phillips, out of her home and ended their dating relationship two days prior to the attack, according to court documents.

Police found Phillips in the garage with the mother and daughter, where he seemed confused, possibly as a result of inhaling fumes from two running cars in the garage, according to court documents.

Phillips was in custody while hospitalized. Upon release from the hospital, police booked Phillips into Spokane County Jail on suspicion of second-degree murder and attempted second-degree murder with a $1.5 million bond.

On Tuesday, a judge ordered Phillips be evaluated for his competency to stand trial. A judge will determine whether his trial will be suspended further during a hearing set for June 4, according to court records.