Hillsboro woman sentenced to 4 years in prison for felonious assault

A Hillsboro woman has been sentenced to four years in prison after pleading guilty to felonious assault.

Nicole J. Pierce, 42, of Hillsboro was indicted by a Highland County grand jury in April and charged with felonious assault, a second-degree felony; and assault, a first-degree misdemeanor. She pleaded guilty to both charges June 7, according to court records.

The indictment alleged that on or about March 11, Pierce “did knowingly cause or attempt to cause physical harm” to a victim by means of a fixed blade knife. She was also accused of “knowingly causing or attempting to cause physical harm” to a separate victim.

According to a bill of particulars, Pierce was allegedly “intoxicated” at a Hillsboro residence and “started yelling and cussing” at people there. She allegedly yelled at and attempted to grab one individual, while she threatened to stab a second individual, the bill of particulars says. It is alleged that Pierce “removed a fixed blade hunting knife from her pocket” and said she “was going to kill” the victim.

After accepting Pierce’s guilty plea, Highland County Common Pleas Court Judge Rocky Coss sentenced Pierce to a definite determinate term of four years in prison on the felonious assault charge, concurrent to 180 days for the misdemeanor assault charge. Pierce had 88 days of jail time credit.