Erin Mackinday, the mother of porn star Christine Mackinday, professionally known as “Christy Mack,” testified that she witnessed her daughter being abused. In what was probably the most gripping testimony of the day, the mother started at her daughter’s alleged accuser from the stand, and told him she wished “I would have shot you.”
“War Machine,” an MMA fighter previously known as Jonathan Koppenhaver, faces more than thirty counts related to what witnesses have described as a series of attacks against Mack. The counts range from attempted murder with a deadly weapon to sexual assault, among other charges.
The mother, Erin Mackinday, began testifying during the sixth day of the trial by describing her daughter, “Mack,” as a quiet, loving, and smart child who also loved animals. She said that the defendant, “War Machine,” was at first likeable, but then testified that she witnessed the relationship deteriorate and her daughter growing darker and darker.
“He looks as if he’s lost fifty to sixty pounds in the shoulders,” mother Mackinday testified as she described “War Machine” as he sat in the courtroom compared with the “War Machine” she knew during the time he was dating her daughter.
The mother continued testifying by describing “screaming and fighting” between her daughter and “War Machine.” She testified running to her daughter’s aid. Mack, hysterical by that time, was screaming. “All of a sudden, all hell broke loose,” Mackinday explained. “He grabbed me by the neck and dragged me upstairs,” Mackinday recalls her daughter, “Mack,” explaining. Mackinday recalled seeing red marks on her daughter’s neck. Mackinday testified that she wanted to call the police.
Mackinday, however, testified that the abuse continued onward and into the night of the attack which led to the litany of charges against “War Machine.” She testified to a phone call between herself and “War Machine” immediately after the attack.
“We got into a fight and I had to beat her up,” she said War Machine told her on the phone on August 8, 2014, which left her daughter with eighteen broken bones, a broken nose, missing teeth, a fractured rib, and a ruptured liver. She then described a frantic scene while she raced to Mack’s home.
“My thought was, ‘she’s dead,'” she explained as she ran through police lines and demanded to know if her daughter was still alive. Police would only answer that her daughter was at the hospital.
Eventually, Mackinday made her way to her daughter’s bedside. “It didn’t look like her,” she explained through tears. She prayed that God would not let her daughter die, and then said, “this is done,” meaning that the relationship between Mack and “War Machine” was finally over.
Mackinday explained that “War Machine” had tricked her by sending elusive texts from her daughter’s phone. Mack told her mother from the hospital at some point that “War Machine” had taken her phone. She said she started texting “War Machine” and demanded the phone be returned in expletive-laced communications.
Mackinday testified that her daughter has changed since the alleged attack. She says her daughter has become “more loving” and “stronger,” but that her daughter now sleeps with the lights on and does not take her safety for granted. She says her daughter prefers to not talk about the alleged attack.
Prosecutor Jacqueline Bluth asked Mack’s mother if she regretted not calling the police after witnessing the first alleged attack against her daughter. “No,” she answered, then suggested something worse than calling the police.
“I wish I would have shot you,” she repeated twice, appearing to look directly at the defendant.
This testimony is continuing. Remain with LawNewz.com and the Law Newz Network for live, streaming coverage.
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