DAYTON, Ohio (WDTN) — Three people are in custody after being accused of keeping a woman hostage for days and severely torturing her inside a Springfield home.
The woman was allegedly starved for those three days inside the home located on Robinson Drive before she was able to escape and run to a neighbor’s house for help. The neighbor saw her injuries and helped her to call the police.
Mike, the neighbor who made the 911 call to save the woman’s life, said he was stunned when he got a knock at his door Tuesday evening. That knock came from a 28-year-old severely beaten woman who told him she needed his help.
While Mike was nervous at first, he said that after he saw how severely injured she was, he knew he had to step in.
The woman allegedly had severe chemical burns to her back and side, cuts and bruises all over her body and swelling to her legs and face.
“It’s from her injuries,” Mike said. “You know, I was looking around to make sure there was nobody else around before I let her in. Just, you know, just to play it safe. But she was just scared out of her mind. There was no faking that.”
After Mike let her in, the woman asked him to use his phone to call her mom, insisting that she did not want the police called, but Mike strongly urged against that.
“I was like, no, you need to call the police right now,” he said. “So, I did. And the ambulance came and picked her up.”
According to court records, the woman was transported to Springfield Regional Medical Center where she told police the situation started because she owed three people who she had been living with $450.
Those three people — Billy Woolard, Tiffany Lyons and Amanda Vance — reportedly beat, starved and tortured her. One of them posted a picture to Facebook showing the victim’s injuries and admitting to beating her.
Police saw that post, issued a warrant and searched the home. They arrested all three people involved.
The woman is still in the hospital after suffering severe chemical burns and cuts, and Mike, the neighbor who helped her, is grateful for the role he played in getting her to safety.
“I’m just glad I could help,” Mike said. “I mean, it was just some crazy people living over there, and I’m just glad they’re off the street.”
Woolard, Lyons and Vance were taken into custody and are being held in the Clark County Jail. Court records show they are all facing charges of Kidnapping, Abduction and Felonious Assault, however, they have all entered not guilty pleas.
