-Messenger photo by Kelby Wingert
Ciane Smith, who was brutally attacked in her Fort Dodge home in November 2021, reads her victim impact statement during Monday's sentencing hearing for Marcus Western Jr., who pleaded guilty to attempted murder and first-degree burglary for the attack. On her wrist is a tattoo to remind her to "stay strong."

What Ciane Smith went through in her Fort Dodge home on Nov. 2, 2021, was nothing less than a nightmare.

In the early morning hours, two individuals broke into her house and viciously attacked her, stabbing her eight times and leaving her for dead.

Smith would spend the next several days and weeks fighting for her life — and the life of her unborn child. Over the last two years, she’s had to learn how to live with the lasting wounds — both physical and emotional — from that attack.

On Monday, nearly two years after she lay nearly dying on her kitchen floor, Smith was able to feel some justice as Marcus Western Jr., 23, of Minneapolis, Minnesota, was sentenced to prison for his role in the attack.

Western, along with accomplice Sharon Morara, were arrested weeks after the attack and each charged with attempted murder and first-degree burglary, both Class B felonies. Both later received additional charges of conspiracy to commit a forcible felony and assault while participating in a felony.

-Messenger photo by Kelby Wingert
Defendant Marcus Western Jr. refuses to look at Lexi Smith as she reads her victim impact statement at Western's setnencing hearing for attempted murder and first-degree burglary on Monday. Western pleaded guilty to the charges related to a November 2021 attack on Smith's daughter, Ciane Smith.

In July, Western pleaded guilty to the attempted murder and first-degree burglary charges, admitting that he had broken into Smith’s home and strangled her, but said that Morara was the one who carried out the multiple stabbings. He was sentenced on Monday to two indeterminate terms up to 25 years in prison, to be served concurrently, or at the same time. For the attempted murder charge, Western will have to serve a minimum of 70% of the sentence before he can be eligible for parole.

In May, Morara pleaded guilty to the same charges and received the same sentence.

Reading her victim impact statement on Monday, Smith shared how the attack has continued to affect her, nearly two years later. She said she’s struggled with post traumatic stress disorder, anxiety and being able to trust others.

“Life became so unbearable for me and the thought of living my life in this condition made me depressed and unmotivated,” she said. “You dimmed my light, the light that shined bright for everyone around me.”

The attack left Smith paralyzed from the waist down, but she and her unborn child survived. Smith’s older child, who was just a toddler at the time, witnessed the attack but was unharmed.

-Messenger photo by Kelby Wingert
Attack victim Ciane Smith is embraced by her cousing, Ereziah Jones, while the two listen to victim impact statements at the sentencing hearing of Smith's attacker, Marcus Western Jr., on Monday afternoon at the Webster County Law Enforcement Center.

Now, the mother of two is looking toward the future rather than the past.

“I want you to know that although you did break me, I am rebuilding myself stronger than I ever was before,” Smith said. “I am relearning how to live my life. I am learning how to be OK and how to smile. This was the most traumatic thing I’ve ever experienced, but I know if I can get through this, I can get through anything.”

Showing a level of grace not expected by most in the courtroom, at the end of the hearing Smith asked District Court Judge Derek Johnson to terminate the no contact order against Western so that his child that Smith was carrying at the time of the attack may reach out some day.

“I pray that if my daughter wants a relationship with you, that you will be able to love her the way she deserves to be loved,” Smith said in her victim impact statement.

A few of Smith’s close family members also gave victim impact statements during Western’s hearing.

Michael Smith, Ciane’s father, shared how difficult it was seeing his daughter in the hospital and how he had to urge her to find the will to live.

“I had to convince her to keep going,” he said. “She was so ready to give up, felt like she wasn’t strong enough to keep going. I reminded her of that tattoo she has on her wrist — ‘stay strong.'”

Michael Smith also reminded Western that his and Morara’s actions on Nov. 2, 2021, impacted more than just Ciane Smith and her children.

“What you all did shook this family to its core, but didn’t break our foundation,” he said.

Lexi Smith, Ciane’s mother, shared her frustrations with what she sees as Western’s failure to take ownership for what he and Morara did to her daughter.

“I can’t come to terms with the fact that you thought you’d get away with it,” Lexi Smith said. “Your arrogance is disgusting, and you’re a monster. And in my opinion no amount of time you serve will ever be enough for what you took from my child on Nov. 2.”

Lexi Smith also said she felt the charges Western pleaded guilty to were not enough.

“I wish they could charge you for murder, considering all the dreams you killed, futures you murdered without thought,” she said.

Ciane’s sister, Natasha Smith, also gave a statement.

After handing down the sentence, Johnson told Western he should be thankful for the 25-year sentence he’s receiving.

“Mr. Western, there’s not much I can add to what’s been said today here in court,” Johnson said. “I just think it’s ironic that the reason today you are not going to prison for the rest of your life is because your victim had a will to live, wanted to be a mother and didn’t want to be defeated that day. And with the support of her family, she got through that.

“So when you’re done with your sentence, every day of freedom, you should thank her. Because if she would have died that day, you’d never be free.”