Watch CBS News

Facebook Plea Helps Woman Escape Ex-Boyfriend's Violent Attack

YUBA COUNTY (CBS13) — Deputies say a woman escaped a horrific, violent episode with her ex-boyfriend by posting a desperate cry for help on Facebook.

Investigators say it was a long-term relationship that turned so sour, the victim took out a restraining order against her ex.

Neighbor Chad Shoffner says police stormed the house next door, wheeling out a woman covered in blood.

"They ran with her to the ambulance that was right over there," he said.

Lying in wait in the garage with a knife, Yuba County Sheriff's deputies say Parrish Heavens ambushed his 41-year-old ex-girlfriend when she got home from work in Plumas Lake. He's accused of raping her, and cutting her face with the knife he eventually turned on himself, cutting his own throat.

When the attack was over, investigators say Heavens left the bedroom, taking her cellphone. Deputies say the woman locked herself in her bathroom. She didn't have her phone, but she did have her tablet, which she used post a desperate plea for help on Facebook.

Her friends read the message and called 911.

"They've lived there at least a year, and it's the only person on the street where you never see 'em, you never hear from 'em," Shoffner said.

There was a lot he didn't know about his next-door neighbor.

IN 2005, grainy surveillance pictures landed Heavens in handcuffs. Court records show he pleaded no contest to exposing himself and groping women in Sacramento-area stores.

Two years ago, Heavens was arrested again, accused of looking up women's skirts with a mirror in a Roseville Target.

Now he's accused of violently attacking his ex.

"I've done bounty hunting, security, ride-alongs; I'm a criminal justice major, you see domestic violence," Shoffner said. "That wasn't a normal domestic violence case."

Heavens initially evaded authorities after he allegedly took a knife to himself, but he was caught when he checked himself into a Sacramento hospital for treatment.

View CBS News In
CBS News App Open
Chrome Safari Continue
Be the first to know
Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.