'I can't breathe': Woman arrested after allegedly choking 8-year-old

Deputies charged 52-year-old Julie E. Bruce with aggravated child abuse, aggravated assault, domestic battery by strangulation and resisting arrest without violence.

By Ray Boone
| 4:30 p.m. February 20, 2018

Palm Coast Observer
News

Deputies responded to a Palm Coast residence on Monday, Feb. 19, in reference to a domestic disturbance, according to a charging affidavit released by the Flagler County Sheriff’s Office.

Julie E. Bruce, 52, of New York, was arrested by deputies after she allegedly grabbed a hold of an 8-year-old’s neck following an argument.

Karen Bruce, 85, told deputies that her daughter, Julie Bruce, was off her medication and was acting erratically. Karen Bruce said she was very loud and cursing at the children at the residence. A witness told deputies that Julie Bruce twirled metal batons and crashed them together “as if to threaten she was going to hit” the 8-year-old. The witness added that Julie Bruce then threw the batons down on the couch and grabbed the 8-year-old by the neck. The 8-year-old said “I can’t breathe,” according to the affidavit. The witness told deputies that she got in between Julie Bruce and the child to separate them. Deputies spoke with the child to confirm what Proctor said.

Julie Bruce was charged with aggravated child abuse, aggravated assault, domestic battery by strangulation and resisting arrest without violence. She was taken to Flagler County Detention Facility and placed on a $21,000 bond.