Brutal Attack Forces Family to Leave Nebraska

By: Kim Eiten - Email

Updated: Thu 10:11 AM, Sep 13, 2012

One St. Edward family is leaving Nebraska following a string of violence and a brutal attack.

"They say you can come to St. Ed and get away with murder, and I believe that," assault victim Tammy Braden said.

She knows that firsthand. She said she was drugged and severely beaten Saturday night.

"I don't remember leaving the bar. I don't remember even walking into the house. I don't remember nothing," Braden said.

Her daughter, Amanda Samuels, said it's just the latest attack in a string of violence against her family stretching over years.

"About four years ago we came home from church on Christmas Eve and my dog laid dead on my porch," Samuels said.

She said the family pet was executed with a shotgun.

"That's when things started going really, really bad," Samuels said.

She thinks it's racially motivated.

"My kids can't even play outside without being told, 'Watch out, the KKK is coming,'" Samuels said.

And, she said, she and her family are in constant fear for their lives.

"It's hard. It's hard to sleep," Samuels said. "We had to put up security system lights outside. I've had tires slashed. I've had my car keyed. I've had my porch wrote on. Everything, it's hard."

The family has documented and reported every attack to law enforcement.

But, Samuels said, nothing has been done to end the violence.

She said Boone County Attorney John Morgan told her it's a fight between neighbors.

Morgan told NCN that the case is "Adults acting like children."

Samuels said, with nothing being done and the violence escalating, it's time to leave.

"I've got to do what's best for my kids. I can't put them through it and make them take it anymore," she said. "I thought this was an awesome place to raise my kids. I was way wrong."

Boone County Sheriff's Department did not return NCN's calls for comment. St. Edward Police declined to comment on camera.