A Port Townsend woman accused of attacking her husband with a hatchet while he slept was convicted Thursday of first-degree assault and interfering with a report of domestic violence.

Anna Young, 61, was arrested Nov. 2, 2021 after she went to the Port Townsend Police Department roughly eight hours after the assault and told police her husband had tried to kill her.

Prosecutors told a completely different story. They said Young's husband, Ronald Stephens, was asleep in bed in the couple's Port Townsend home when Young started hitting him with a sheathed hatchet sometime after 4 a.m. 

The attack continued after Stephens, 74, woke up confused and Young yelled at him, "You're in a dream. You're in a dream."

The assault continued throughout the home as Stephens tried get the hatchet away from Young. He later grabbed a cast-iron frying pan from off a counter to defend himself.

Stephens escaped the home and ran for help to other homes in the neighborhood. Unable to get anyone to answer their door, he drove himself to the emergency room at Jefferson Healthcare Medical Center.

Stephens had multiple head wounds, a fractured skull, and a broken finger that prosecutors said was a defensive wound. He was later taken to Harborview Medical Center for treatment, and a laceration on his ear required plastic surgery.

The jury started deliberations at approximately 11:30 a.m. Thursday.

They returned to the courtroom of Jefferson County Superior Court Judge Brandon Mack at 3:14 p.m. to deliver the verdict.

Young, who does not have a prior criminal history, was released prior to her sentencing hearing.

She was ordered to surrender her passport by noon Friday at the Port Townsend Police Department.

The sentencing hearing has been set for Aug. 4.