JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Tatyanna Brash’s walk to work Thursday morning should have taken her less than five minutes. But she had hardly made it a block before she realized a woman she didn’t recognize started following her.

As she crossed East Duval Street in downtown Jacksonville to get to the library, where she’s worked for the last two years, Brash said the woman lunged at her.

“She had, like, this manic, deranged look on her face. Her eyes were like stone,” Brash said, “She came right at me and I just started fighting her.”

Brash told Action News Jax she was traumatized by the attack and doesn’t remember too much of what happened while she and the woman were fighting in the middle of the road. Brash said she tried waving at oncoming cars to ask for help and, eventually, an officer with the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office ran up and pulled the woman away.

Brash later had to get a splint on her hand because she got hurt in the fight.

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“I have children, I had just dropped my kids off at daycare, what’s wrong with people?” Brash said.

JSO arrested Kalee Harden for the attack, charging her with battery. We searched Duval County court records and found Harden has previously been charged in two domestic violence cases and two theft cases, among other past charges. JSO said she’s experiencing homelessness.

We reported last year when Citizens’ Insurance voted to move its office out of downtown Jacksonville after dozens of workers filed complaints about harassment from others experiencing homelessness.

Brash believes safety in downtown is a problem and believes there needs to be a greater police presence to prevent similar attacks from happening.

“Definitely more patrol, I don’t see anything wrong with bringing the horses back downtown,” Brash said.

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We reached out to the city asking if any more is being done to keep downtown safer. In a statement, a representative from the city sent us this:

“The JFRD Providing Assistance To the Homeless team has connected with 2,127 individuals since it launched in November 2024. Many of these encounters have been in Downtown Jacksonville. One unfortunate incident does not negate the significant progress that has been made during this time. The City’s strong partnership with JFRD and JSO will continue as we work together to reduce homelessness.”

We also reached out to JSO asking if it will consider expanding its presence downtown. At this time, we have not received an answer to that question.

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