McCammon woman back in jail awaiting trial for 2021 knife attack

MCCAMMON — A woman who failed to appear in court for a hearing in November has been arrested and is being held in jail as she awaits trial for a felony battery charge.

Teresa Marie Garrard, 60, was charged with aggravated battery and a deadly weapon enhancement in 2021, court records show. A trial scheduled for January was vacated after she failed to appear in court for a motion hearing, but she is back in Bannock County Jail after a warrant was served last week.

Bannock County Sheriff’s deputies responded to a call reporting an assault at a home on the 2100 block of South Marsh Creek Road in McCammon on Aug. 11, 2021, according to an affidavit of probable cause.

When deputies arrived at the home, they learned that Garrard had allegedly attacked another woman and that the victim was refusing medical attention for a cut on her hand. The victim along with a male witness and three children were in the front yard, being separated from Garrard.

The witness told deputies that Garrard asked him and the victim to bring Garrard’s car – which they had borrowed – back, but demanded that the victim not come, the affidavit says. The witness told Garrard that, because he was not able to drive, the victim would have to drive the car back.

When the man went to Garrard’s door to return the keys, Garrard answered the door holding a “large kitchen knife,” he told deputies.

While the witness was providing deputies with description of the incident, deputies noticed the victim was bleeding through a towel she had wrapped around her injured hand, so they requested EMTs.

The witness told deputies Garrard came out of the home, said she was going to “kill a b****,” and approached the vehicle. Garrard then began swinging the knife at the victim through an opened window. The witness noted there were three children in the backseat of the vehicle while this was happening.

Deputies then questioned Garrard, who stated she was defending herself.

Police reports note that Garrard seemed nervous. She told deputies she did not want the victim in her home.

Asked how she made sure the victim did not enter the home, Garrard became “very fidgety” and asked if she could go back inside the house. When deputies told her they preferred to talk outside, she said she could not and “hastily entered the home,” the affidavit says.

Garrard eventually explained that she answered the door with a knife out of fear, and that she went to the car because she was “scared and protecting herself.” She said she swung at the victim intending to “slug” her, but she didn’t mean to cut her. After explaining herself, Garrard became “emotionally upset.”

Deputies spoke with the victim, who insisted that Garrard was not trying to “slug” her but was swinging the knife at her. She said she felt “very threatened” and was worried about the safety of herself and the children in the backseat.

The deputies asked Garrard where she put the knife. She told them she stashed it under her bed. Deputies found a knife wedged between mattresses and had the witness confirm it was the knife used in the attack. It was taken as evidence.

Garrard was booked into Bannock County Jail. She was released on her own recognizance with a no-contact order the following day.

She failed to appear in court for a hearing November 28 and District Judge Rick Carnoroli ordered a warrant for her arrest. She is now being held on a $10,000 bond.

Though Garrard has been charged with these crimes, it does not necessarily mean he committed them. Everyone is presumed innocent until they are proven guilty.

If she is found guilty, Garrard could face more than 15 years in prison.