Miami Woman Left in Coma After Allegedly Being Brutally Beaten by Roommate She Found on Craigslist

A woman in Miami is in a coma after allegedly being attacked earlier this week by the roommate she found on Craigslist.

According to a GoFundMe page set up by her family to help defray her hospital costs, Danielle Jones was “bludgeoned, strangled and face mutilated in an attempted murder” on Feb. 14, her 23rd birthday, by her roommate Byron Mitchell, who she had found on Craigslist a week before.

“He beat her to a coma and ventilator support with various face and skull fractures, multiple injuries to include multiple cuts on her face,” Jones’ mother Aimee Cabo Nikolov told ABC 10 News.

Mitchell, 35, was arrested on Feb. 15 and is being held without bond for attempted murder at Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center, ABC 10 reports. Police told the outlet Mitchell had confessed to the attack but claimed that he was acting in self-defense.

Miami Police spokesperson Lt. Freddie Cruz told the Miami Herald he did not have details of the attack.

“There are conflicting statements, and it’s up in the air if there was a relationship between the two,” he said.

Jones’ family told NBC 6 News they hope the incident will teach others to be more careful in using Craigslist to meet strangers.

“Bringing attention to this and raise some type of awareness for other people to be careful because I can’t explain in words how hard it is to see her like this,” Kaitlin Cabot, Jones’ cousin, said.

“We hold on to hope,” Nikolov added. “It’s in God’s hands, but it’s day six and she hasn’t woken up.”

Miami police could not be reached by PEOPLE for comment.