An Apollo man was sentenced Thursday to serve 12 to 24 years in state prison for splitting his ex-fiance’s forehead with a hatchet, leaving her partially blind in one eye, while he was allegedly delusional from the effects of hallucinogenic mushrooms.

Dean Jay Law, 31, was sentenced in Butler County Common Pleas Court after pleading no contest to a first-degree felony charge of attempted first-degree murder, which was among many charges state police filed against him following the June 9, 2020, attack in the victim’s family home in Summit Township.

Dean Law

Police said Law walked through an unlocked rear door into the home on Bonniebrook Road shortly before 7 a.m., uninvited and unnoticed, and attacked the woman as she slept in her upstairs bedroom.

His then-girlfriend told investigators that she was with Law when he drove into a field near the home and told her he was going for a walk and would return. She said she did not see him in possession of a hatchet when he left the vehicle.

In a later interview with police the victim recalled seeing Law standing over her before he struck her with the hatchet, which was protruding from her forehead when police arrived.

Police arrested Law when he returned to the scene with his girlfriend, who was not arrested, later the same day.

In addition to attempted murder, police charged Law with felony charges of burglary, aggravated assault and criminal trespass and a misdemeanor charge of false identification.

The other charges were withdrawn in a plea agreement that was laid out before a county victim and witness advocate read impact statements from the victim and her grandmother.

In the statement, the 28-year-old victim said she has a large scar near her right eye and is half blind in the eye.

She said the attack has left her doubting her ability to judge people, especially men.

Following the incident, she said she wasn’t able to sleep and saw a therapist in Pittsburgh to help her cope with the aftermath of the attack.

She said she still recalls the sound of her skull cracking and the feeling of blood running down her face. The hatchet severed the nerves that control her eye lids, she said.

Following the attack, she spent four weeks in a hospital suffering from migraine headaches and receiving antibiotics intravenously and had three surgeries, she said.

A metal plate was surgically placed in her forehead and mesh was placed under her eye to rebuild the eye socket, she said. Fat was removed from her belly and placed into her forehead, and her tear ducts had to be repaired to stop them from continuously producing tears, she said.

In addition to losing half of her sight in her right eye, she said her depth perception is less than 100% and half of her forehead is numb.

Due to risk, she said she probably won’t undergo a cosmetic operation in which surgeons would have to “peel” her face to access her eye socket. She said her brain has sagged into her eye socket, impacting her vision.

Her grandmother, in her statement, said she’s glad her granddaughter is alive. She said her granddaughter suffered through pain and surgeries.

“God says to forgive, but I cannot,” the grandmother said in her statement.

Through video from the county prison where he is incarcerated, Law said he accepts full responsibility for his actions, and apologized to the victim and her family. He said he hopes his prison sentence will provide closure to her and her family.

He said he rejected offers of help for his drug use from family and friends.

His attorney, Justin John-Earl Ketchel of Pittsburgh, said Law wasn’t able to recall what happened immediately after the incident, but his memory eventually returned.

“Dean had been experimenting with mushrooms — psychedelic mushrooms,” Ketchel said.

He said Law was not aware of what he did and did not have control over his actions, but is sincerely remorseful.

“Dean can’t believe he did something like this,” Ketchel said.

Law’s sentence, imposed by Judge Kelley Streib, included paying $9,768 to the victim compensation assistance program.

Law’s mother, grandparents, aunt and a coworker attended the sentencing hearing.