AUBURN – A woman accused of attacking her 72-year-old mother last week with a hatchet in their Lewiston kitchen was indicted Wednesday on charges of attempted murder and aggravated assault.

Nancy D. Jean, 54, of 4 Diamond Court, is charged with striking her mother, Rita Jean, on the head with a hatchet on Aug. 1. According to police reports, the elder Jean warded off a second blow, wrestled the hatchet away from her daughter and drove herself to St. Mary’s Regional Medical Center. She received six stitches to close the head wound.

Police arrested Nancy Jean at the home later that evening. Police said she was confused at first, but later told officers she did it.

Nancy Jean told police that the two women argue frequently, and claimed her mother was verbally abusive. She said she had left the house to go to the store Wednesday and returned to find money missing from her purse. She went down the basement, got a hatchet and attacked her mother, according to the affidavit. The two struggled briefly, until Rita Jean was able to take the hatchet and leave the house.

Nancy Jean remained in the Androscoggin County Jail Wednesday.

In the late 1990s, Rita Jean and her group Miracle of Living Waters briefly owned the Libbey Mill on the Lewiston side of the Androscoggin River. During that time, the mill was set on fire and became the source of legal arguments before the city took over the building.