A chilling act of desperation unfolded in a Calgary home, revealing a grandmother’s fight for survival. Diana Redmond, 68, fearing for her life, used her own blood to write her name on the laundry room floor, a haunting plea for identification should the worst happen.
The brutal assault began with a seemingly minor dispute between Redmond and her granddaughter, Larissa Kittleson, over missing clothes. The argument quickly escalated, turning shockingly violent when Kittleson broke Redmond’s fingers, twisting them with cruel force.
As Redmond fell, striking her head against a coffee table, Kittleson called for her boyfriend, Stephen Hovey. He immediately joined the attack, unleashing a barrage of punches – Redmond estimated around twenty – to her head.
The violence intensified as Hovey began to strangle Redmond. She fought back, kicking and punching, but he retaliated with a hard object, believed to be a magnifying glass, repeatedly striking her head and chest.
Panic seized Kittleson, fearing her grandmother would alert the police. She and Hovey decided to restrain Redmond, a decision that plunged the ordeal into a terrifying new phase.
Redmond was gagged with duct tape, forced over her mouth and neck, and her hands and legs bound tightly with rope. She was then dragged to the basement laundry room, secured, and left alone, facing the unimaginable.
Throughout the horrific confinement, Hovey reportedly threatened Redmond’s life. It was in this desperate isolation, believing death was imminent, that she penned her name in blood, a final act of self-preservation.
After the intoxicated pair fled, Redmond, still partially restrained with duct tape and rope, managed to free herself and stumble to a neighbor’s house. Her injuries were severe: broken fingers, a fractured nose, and damage to her orbital bones.
Stephen Hovey, 34, ultimately pleaded guilty to aggravated assault and unlawful confinement, receiving a five-year prison sentence. The court heard that drug addiction and a “toxic” relationship fueled his actions.
Kittleson had previously received the same sentence after entering a guilty plea to the same charges. Hovey, with credit for time already served, faces a little over three years remaining in custody.
