Alexia Cathey, 28, was in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court for the sentencing of Chantel Crowder, 32. A jury found Crowder guilty in November of slashing Cathey’s face Sept. 2, 2018, during an argument at the Valley View Apartments on Tyrell Street on the West Side. Staff photo / Ed Runyan

YOUNGSTOWN — The disfiguring facial injuries of Alexia Cathey, 28, said more than words could Wednesday during the sentencing of Chantel Crowder, 32.

Cathey, who attended the hearing in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court, has a clearly visible scar that runs from her forehead to her mouth.

A jury found Crowder guilty in November of slashing Cathey’s face Sept. 2, 2018, during an argument at the Valley View Apartments on Tyrell Street on the West Side. Her conviction is aggravated assault, which carries a possible penalty of 18 months in prison.

Assistant Prosecutor Martin Hume called the slashing wound a “heinous injury.” He told Judge Anthony Donofrio that Cathey had to have two surgeries to minimize the damage.

“I almost lost my eye,” Cathey told Donofrio. “My eyesight is blurred in my right eye.” She has been to four different types of doctors, including a plastic surgeon.

“I felt like I failed my children and that I wasn’t able to fully be a mother to them because of the mental and physical pain I was going through,” she said. “I’m really self-conscious because I know it’s the first thing people see on me, and it’s always that person who has to ask what happened.”

Youngstown police said the slashing occurred at the end of an argument that began with Crowder approaching a neighbor at the complex over a missing cellphone that belonged to Crowder’s son.

The dispute continued among several people, including Crowder and Cathey, police said. Crowder alleged that Cathey reached for a knife while fighting with Crowder’s mother, police said.

Finally, as Cathey and another woman walked down the hallway of the apartment, Crowder reached over the banister and slashed Cathey’s face, the other woman said.

The jury found Crowder not guilty of the more serious charge of felonious assault.

In most cases, judges sentence defendants to probation and no jail time for low-level felonies such as aggravated assault, but Donofrio sentenced Crowder to one year in prison. Prosecutors sought 18 months.

Donofrio said among the reasons he chose prison is the attack on Cathey was “extremely violent. You caused serious, very serious physical harm to Ms. Cathey. She’s going to be scarred for life.”

The judge said he realizes the conflict between the women was “kind of a mutual combatant type of thing,” and Crowder also has “family obligations” because of her four children.

He said he understands Crowder’s rationale was to protect her mother. “But I think your actions were just extreme,” the judge said. “The small record you do have indicates to me you probably have a problem dealing with anger issues.”

Before sentencing, Crowder’s attorney, James Wise, pointed out that this is “essentially (Crowder’s) only conviction of her lifetime.” He said she had a case in North Carolina in which a judge entered a “prayer verdict,” which resulted in her having no conviction, but the charge remained on her record seven years.

Hume noted that Crowder’s “false allegation” that Cathey’s cousin had stolen Crowder’s son’s cellphone is what started the episode.

“It is my understanding that the cellphone was later found in her own apartment, so this is something that should have never happened,” Hume said.

erunyan@tribtoday.com