A hotel employee says he had to spring into action after watching a woman carry out an unprovoked attack toward another woman in downtown Seattle, which left on
A hotel employee says he had to spring into action after watching a woman carry out an unprovoked attack toward another woman in downtown Seattle, which left one of them with a gruesome injury.
36-year-old Kamilia Chadli is charged with 2nd Degree Assault, after prosecutors say she attacked Diana Gonzalez walking past her on the sidewalk near the Arctic Hotel, and bit a piece of Gonzalez's forehead off in the process, before spitting it out into a storm grate and walking to a nearby bus stop.
WATCH | Seattle woman recounts having part of face bitten off by suspect in downtown
Holt was working as a valet at the hotel when he says he saw the fight beginning between the two women and that Chadli was being aggressive towards the other woman.
It quickly escalated, as Holt says he saw Chadli pull Gonzalez to the ground, which is when he began calling for help from other employees to alert them about what was going on.
Holt and another valet tried to step in, separating the women. It was then that Holt says Chadli leaned in and bit a piece of flesh off of Gonzalez's forehead, before the two were pulled apart.
“The words can't even describe the situation. It was something I've never seen, and her face just turned completely to blood," Holt told KOMO News.
Holt says he was even more surprised after the fight had ended, because he says that Chadli then began walking away from the scene across the street.
He says his coworker began following Chadli, ultimately to a bus stop in front of the King County Courthouse.
"It's very thankful that... he was able to think on his feet, and go into the courthouse," Holt said, as his coworker flagged down a Court Marshal, who detained Chadli until police arrived.
Back at the hotel sidewalk where Gonzalez was getting help to stop her bleeding -- Holt said the realization of what happened was a lot to process for everyone.
"[Gonzalez] was definitely confused -- she got her phone out originally, and went down to dial 911, and she was unable to use her phone because of the amount of blood coming from her head, it was a pretty gruesome incident, she wiped it away and didn't make it any better," Holt explained. "It was insane. I've never dealt with anything like this. I hope to never have to again," he added.
Ultimately, Gonzalez got appropriate medical attention.
She tells KOMO News she has to get surgery in the first week of October for a skin flap procedure, which will leave her with a permanent scar on her forehead.
"It's just, it's so weird. I can't believe she bit a piece of my face off," Gonzalez said.
Chadli is set to appear in court for an arraignment on Monday, September 28, for the felony assault charge.
Her bail was set at $150,000.
Court documents noted that Chadli was living in a shelter across the street from the hotel, and that according to prior police reports from encounters Chadli had with officers, she had a "history of mental health and substance abuse issues, and ongoing conflict with her family."
Also noting that she had previously been "emergently detained for involuntary mental health evaluation."
Holt says that there are typically unhoused people who hang around the sidewalks near the hotel, given the close proximity to the shelter across the street, but stated that in his time working there, he has not seen any concerning violence.
"We see homeless walking around and doing their things all the time, but definitely not any violence against any other humans, especially ones that aren't provoked," Holt said, "I would tend to say that is an uncommon situation for sure," he added.
City data reviewed by KOMO News, shows that within the 700 block of 3rd Avenue, in addition to the intersections of Cherry and Columbia Streets, the alleged biting attack was the first reported crime in that area in all of 2026.
In that same area, there were three violent crimes reported in 2025, and six in 2024, which follows the larger reported trend of violent crime seeing a decrease since 2024 in downtown Seattle.
