Victim of Failed|Beheading Speaks

NORMAN, Okla. (CN) - An Oklahoma woman who survived a beheading attempt after an argument about race at work said the attack ruined her life.

Traci J. Johnson, 44, of Oklahoma City, spoke in detail about the attack for the first time Wednesday on the Fox News show "The Kelly File."

Alton Alexander Nolen is charged with the first-degree murder of 54-year-old Colleen Hufford, at a Vaughn Foods processing plant.

Nolen, 30, of Norman, killed Hufford by "sawing" her neck with a "large bladed knife," according to a criminal information .

Nolen then cut Johnson's throat and face in the Sept. 25, 2014 attack and tried to stab a company executive, who fended off the attack by shooting him, according to contemporary news reports.

Cleveland County District Attorney Greg Mashburn said in September the attack was sparked by a complaint Johnson made about Nolen "not liking white people."

Nolen allegedly drove home to get the knife after being suspended for the complaint.

Nolen was charged with first-degree murder and assault and battery with a deadly weapon. He faces the death penalty if he is found to be mentally competent to stand trial.

His now-deleted Facebook page showed several images of beheadings and Osama bin Laden, and posts about terrorism in the Middle East. Nolen is a Muslim convert.

Johnson said she had been working at the Moore plant for just four days when Nolen began "slicing" her neck. Scars are still visible on the right side of her neck.

"He got ahold of my face, he cut my right index finger," a visibly emotional Johnson said. "He wouldn't stop as I am screaming for help and didn't think anyone was coming around."

Her left cheek and lip were cut and Nolen came within "a millimeter of my jugular," she said.

Johnson said Vaughan Foods chief operating officer Mark Vaughan shot at Nolen and missed before Nolen charged him with the knife, resulting in two more gunshots that struck him. The attacks lasted five to 10 minutes.

Johnson was a temporary employee for 1st Staffing Group USA during the attack.

She was paid $352 per week in workers' compensation benefits for temporary disability, which payments have stopped, The Oklahoman reported Thursday.

She told CBS-affiliate KWTV that she has "extremely hard days" coping with the attack and "wanting to give up" sometimes.

"They say I have a thing called survivor's guilt and that's because of what has happened," she said in December. "I feel like a lot of this is my fault."

Follow @davejourno

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