A hammer-wielding woman videotaped yelling racist remarks outside a family’s home in St. Louis last year was charged Wednesday with three felony counts, authorities said.
Fatima Suarez, 22, who said her family has been harassed for more than a year, said Wednesday she should not have taken a viral Ring cam video to press charges.
Video captured the woman appearing to bang on Suarez’s front door with a hammer and yell racist remarks. Suárez initially posted the video to TikTok, and a popular user reposted it this week.
“It’s ridiculous to have to make a video go viral for them to actually do something,” Suárez said. «It’s good news that she’s finally indicted.»
The St. Louis Circuit Attorney’s Office identified the woman as Judy Ann Kline, 54, of St. Louis. She is charged with first degree robbery, first degree damage to property and unlawful use of a weapon in connection with a break-in at Suarez’s home on January 5, 2022.
Suárez said the encounter began when his father and younger sister, then 4, heard a commotion in the basement.
Suárez’s father went to the basement and saw a stranger holding a hammer, Suárez said. The woman had entered the house by breaking a glass door, he said.
Suárez’s father closed a door leading to the basement and came out with his young daughter, Suárez said.
The woman then appeared at the front door, where video from Ring appears to show her banging on the door with a hammer and yelling racist remarks.
Suárez said the attack was racially motivated.
“The point of breaking in, it wasn’t even to steal anything. It was because of race,” Suárez said. He pointed out that his family is of Mexican descent.
In Ring’s video, the woman is heard demanding paperwork because «I know you didn’t buy this house, you don’t have enough money.»
Elsewhere in the video, the woman says, «Get off my property!» Other images show the woman describing herself as an «American citizen, mad at you.»
The woman in the video is also heard saying, «What the hell are you doing in my house? Get out, bitch. Get out. It’s my house,» according to a probable cause statement.
Kline also broke the glass door of a dryer in the home, according to the probable cause statement, which also noted that «defendant has reportedly returned to this address multiple times over the past year since the incident occurred.»
A search of public records showed that the Kline surname was affiliated with the Suárez household in the 1990s. Suárez said he had heard rumors that Kline grew up in the house or that his family had owned it decades ago.
Suarez said her family has lived in the house for about a decade.
It was not clear Wednesday afternoon if Kline has an attorney. She could not immediately be reached for comment.
Suárez said Kline has harassed her family for a year, including on February 1, when she allegedly tried to pick the lock on the door. In March, Suárez also accused Kline of stealing the mail in March and sitting outside the house for hours in December.
The post-dispatch from St. Louis reported that the woman had been arrested in connection with other disturbances at the house in 2022. The arrests, on charges of municipal trespassing and various public order disturbances, occurred on March 17 and December 12, respectively, reported the newspaper.
NBC News requested records of the arrests but did not immediately receive them Wednesday.
A spokesman for the city attorney’s office did not immediately respond to requests for comment Wednesday.
Before the charges were announced, the Circuit Attorney’s Office said in a statement Wednesday that police determine the threat to public safety to assess whether cases should be reviewed within 24 hours of requesting a restraining order. arrest.
The attorney general’s office «has filed the request for a judicial order related to this case, and is awaiting the video evidence that was not initially presented and that is now circulating on the Internet,» the statement said.