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SALT LAKE CITY -- A Salt Lake City man has been charged with first-degree felony attempted murder in the assault of an 86-year-old landlady in a home.
Arthel Martin also faces charges of first-degree felony aggravated robbery and class A misdemeanor abuse of a vulnerable adult. Police are still searching for the 45-year-old Martin.
Meanwhile, the family of the woman he is accused of assaulting calls her improvement miraculous.
Larry Maddocks says his mother was in a coma last week. Now she could be released from the hospital Wednesday.
"She's doing much better. They had her up and walking yesterday in therapy," Maddocks says. "She was in a wheelchair when she was beaten up, it was just horrible."
Maddocks says his mother can't remember what happened to her.
"She has no memory of the incident, but she has memory of everything else in her life," he says. "It's just not that, thank goodness."
Maddocks says prayers and support have helped immensely. "She's doing so much better. The doctors are just amazed," he says.
Police say The 86-year-old woman was strangled and beaten last week by one of her tenants, Arthel Martin.
Maddocks has started Twitter and Facebook pages dedicated to finding Martin. He was inspired by the social media blitz to find Susan Powell. He says the family learned Martin has a violent history, and they don't want anyone else to get hurt.
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Story compiled with contributions from Mary Richards and The Associated Press.
