Judge Mary Kay Holthus thought she was going to die when Deobra Redden charged at her and launched himself over the bench in a viral courtroom attack earlier this year. Now, as the trial for attempted murder unfolds, the judge is recalling the harrowing moments when Redden attacked her in front of a stunned courtroom.
The assault took place on January 3, 2024, during a court appearance after Redden, 31, failed to show up for a previous hearing. A video of the incident quickly spread across social media, showing Redden sprinting towards the 62-year-old judge, leaping over the four-foot bench, and crashing into her.
In court on Thursday, Holthus recounted the terrifying experience, fighting back tears as she testified. “I remember him coming at me and I really didn’t think he could make contact—it was like a crash sound,” she told the jury. “He had me by the hair and I was still getting hit in the head.”
Redden, who has been diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia, has pleaded guilty but mentally ill to six of the seven charges related to the attack. However, he maintains a not-guilty plea for the most serious charge: attempted murder.
Judge Holthus described feeling utterly defenseless as Redden repeatedly struck her. “I just remember saying, ‘Help! Help! Somebody get him off!’ In my head, I was just completely defenseless. It was scary. I didn’t think I was going to get out of there,” she testified.
Her law clerk, Michael Lasso, was among the first to rush to her aid, jumping up to defend the judge as Redden threw his body over the bench. Together with others in the courtroom, Lasso managed to pull the attacker off Holthus. “I literally rolled under my bench in the fetal position,” Holthus added. “I remember thinking, ‘Why is it taking so long?’ There was chaos in the courtroom.”
Redden’s lawyer, Carl Arnold, told the court that his client’s mental health had deteriorated in the months leading up to the attack, as he had been off his prescribed medication. Arnold argued that Redden did not intend to kill the judge, saying, “That’s going to be the big question that you guys are going to have to deal with at closing. Did he have the intent to go ahead and kill?”
Redden faces up to three years in prison if convicted of the attempted murder charge, KLAS reported The case now hinges on whether the jury believes he intended to take Judge Holthus’ life during the chaotic attack.