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The 30-year-old daughter of Inglewood Mayor James T. Butts has been charged with hiring a man to attack her landlord with a bat. Ashley Melissa Butts, 30, and Israel Rios, 37, have been charged with assault by means of force likely to produce great bodily injury, first-degree burglary and conspiracy to commit a crime, reports the L.A. Times. If convicted, Butts could face up to seven years in prison, while Rios could face up to 22 years.
According to a release from the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office, Butts had gotten into multiple arguments with her landlord soon after moving into his home, located in the 3300 block of West 78th Street in Los Angeles, a couple blocks from the Inglewood border.
The Daily Breeze has identified her landlord as Larry Daniels.
Prosecutors say Butts called an Uber to pick up Rios and an unknown man and drop them off at the home on April 30, and that Butts and Rios texted each other prior to the attack. Butts unlocked the door for Rios, and instructed him to knock. He did, and when the landlord approached the door, the two men entered and allegedly attacked him with a metal bat. One of them also fired a gun at him, but did not hit him. The victim sustained cuts to his head.
Butts is accused of offering Rios cash in exchange for executing the assault.
James T. Butts was elected mayor of Inglewood in 2010 after a long career in law enforcement, once working as the Chief of Police in Santa Monica. He released a statement to the Daily Breeze, saying, "My daughter is a 30-year-old adult presumed innocent. I believe in her innocence."
