Woman arrested on charges of carjacking, attempted murder

BY JENNIFER CABRERA

Diamond Nicole Cromarty, 22, was arrested this evening on a warrant following investigation of a sworn complaint regarding a carjacking and stabbing.

According to the sworn complaint, at 8:00 p.m. on November 9, the victim was approached by a young black female while she was depositing her rent in the 3100 block of NW 13th Street. The young woman was riding a bicycle and reportedly approach the victim and said, “Ma’am, could you please help me? I’m homeless, I have nowhere to go, and I haven’t eaten anything.” The victim believed the young woman to be about 15 years old, so she offered her a ride to McDonald’s, but the young woman said she didn’t like McDonald’s and asked to be taken to Wendy’s instead. While on the way to Wendy’s, the victim started to feel like something wasn’t right, and she decided to go to the Family Dollar at NE 23rd Avenue and NE 9th Street to try to get the young woman out of her car.

On the way to Family Dollar, the young woman told the victim that she had an “Auntie” who lived near there and asked to be taken to the aunt’s house. The victim drove the young woman to the house, but when they approached the house, she was told to keep driving.

Shortly after that, the young woman allegedly began stabbing the victim and demanding her car. The victim tried to fight off the attacker but was not successful. The young woman reportedly kept telling the victim to get out of the car, that she didn’t want to kill her. The victim finally got out of the car, and the young woman let her get her jacket but not her phone. The young woman sped away in the victim’s car.

After the victim was released from the hospital, detectives learned from the victim that the young woman, who told the victim her name was “Katie,” had been living with her boyfriend, but the boyfriend’s family had “put her out.” The victim also said that “Katie’s” boyfriend had a green truck and that “Katie” was from Lake Butler. She also remembered that the reason “Katie” had asked her to keep driving was her boyfriend’s truck wasn’t in the driveway of the house.

The victim helped detectives find that house, but nobody was home. However, the family next door had a son who was dating a girl matching the description of the suspect. The family identified the girlfriend as Diamond Cromarty and said she had taken a bike from their son before Thanksgiving; the bike matched the bike described by the victim. The family had recently made their son and Cromarty move out. Also, their son drives a green truck, and Cromarty is from Lake Butler.

The car was found abandoned, with blood spatter on the interior, consistent with the driver being stabbed. Based on the evidence developed during the investigation, Cromarty has been charged with carjacking and attempted murder. She is being held on $1,000,000 bail.