Union woman charged with attempted murder

ROCKLAND – A Union woman has been charged with attempted murder after she reported striking her 7-year-old daughter with a cast-iron frying pan.

Natalie Hall, 34, of Happy Hollow Road called the law enforcement dispatch center at 11:33 a.m. Sunday to report the incident.

“She thought she had hurt her daughter,” Knox County Sheriff Dan Davey said Thursday.

The assault was not believed to have been provoked by any behavior on the part of the child.

The girl was taken by ambulance to Penobscot Bay Medical Center in Rockport. She was treated and then released, Davey said. She did not suffer permanent injury, he said.

As of Thursday afternoon, Hall remained in the psychiatric ward of Penobscot Bay Medical Center.

Davey said that based on responding Deputy Mike Sprague’s report, Hall was charged with attempted murder. The Sheriff’s Department is still investigating the matter, and consultation with the Knox County District Attorney’s Office will continue, he said.

Hall, who is divorced, has two daughters, both of whom live with her, Davey said. The girls are now in the custody of their father.

Hall was on probation at the time of the assault, but the nature of the earlier conviction was not known, the sheriff said.

Davey did not know whether Hall has been investigated for abuse of the children in the past. Bail for Hall has been set at $1 million surety, or $500,000 in cash.