CLEVELAND — 30-year-old Ariel Walters, the woman at the center of a days-long Amber Alert in Lakewood late last year, has been sentenced to two years of community control under the supervision of the adult probation department.
The judge handed down that decision during the sentencing hearing in Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court on Thursday morning.
The judge said Walters is ordered to report weekly for three months and then every two weeks after. She has also been ordered to attend domestic violence programming as determined by a probation officer.
Walters will also be subject to random drug testing and pay a $20 monthly supervision fee.
If she violates the rules and conditions of her supervision, Walters could be ordered to serve four years behind bars.
CASE DETAILS
Her sentencing came less than a month after Walters pleaded guilty to the following charges connected to the case:
- Felonious assault
- Endangering children
Additional charges of attempted murder, domestic violence and felonious assault were dropped.
Walters was arrested and charged on allegations she had stabbed her husband on Christmas Eve morning before taking her 1-year-old daughter, which triggered the Amber Alert. When police responded to the scene around 2:20 a.m. that morning, they reported finding a 30-year-old man with a stab wound to the neck.
The Amber Alert was ultimately canceled on Dec. 29 after police say the child was safely returned and Walters turned herself in.
WHAT HER HUSBAND SAID IN COURT
"I would like her to know that I want her out," he said prior to the judge announcing the sentence. "I believe she probably needs counseling at the most. I don't think that child endangerment should be nowhere touching her because I have never said my daughter was in danger with her mom at all. I would like for the no contact to be lifted off if possible.”
Based on his wish, the judge lifted the no-contact order that was issued in the case.
“Despite what your husband said, I do take this very seriously," the judge told Walters. "Your lawyer indicating in the court that there are previous domestic violence issues that you’re going through, that doesn’t encourage me a whole lot. ... Something’s not working if you’re stabbing your husband.”
WALTERS MAKES A STATEMENT
Walters, who was emotional during the hearing, also made a brief statement before the judge's decision.
“I am very remorseful," she said with tears in her eyes. "I do feel terrible for what happened to my husband. This entire ordeal has been extremely hard. Seeing everything. Hearing everything. Being away from my child has been extremely hard.”
She said she wants to be able to heal and continue raising her daughter.