ATLANTA, GA (WGCL)—A teenager was charged with felony murder on Monday after a woman died from a stab wound to the neck.
Police responded to reports of a person stabbed in the 3600 block of Venus Place around 7 p.m. on Sunday. Upon arrival, they found 19-year-old Talela Stevenson lying in the driveway. She was transported to Grady Hospital for treatment but died from the injury.
Police identified the stabbing suspect as 14-year-old Jashaunte Marshall. They say Marshall stabbed two people and fled after a large fight broke out.
A second victim, later identified as 18-year-old Garry Banks, was also transported to Grady Hospital with a stab wound to his arm. According to an incident report, he was “alert, conscious and breathing.”
Witnesses told police there had been an ongoing dispute between the parties over the last couple of weeks.
Stevenson’s family told CBS46 News the victim ran out of the house to break up a fight after her younger sister was attacked in her yard by the suspect.
Stevenson was a new mother who gave birth to a child in August. Family said after she was stabbed, her older sister tried to save her by holding pressure on the wound.
The family also told CBS46 that Stevenson was recently accepted into a nursing program at Atlanta Technical College.
The family has set up a GoFundMe account. Donations will go toward funeral expenses and caring for Stevenson’s baby.
Marshall is being held at the Fulton County Youth Detention Center.
Man Who Killed Top Golfer From Spain Gets Life Sentence
The man who fatally stabbed a former Iowa State University golfer from Spain while she was playing a round near the school was sentenced on Aug. 23 to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
Collin Richards pleaded guilty on June 14 to first-degree murder in the Sept. 17 slaying of 22-year-old Celia Barquin Arozamena. Police said Richards stabbed her on the course near the central Iowa campus in Ames and left her body in a pond.
Richards had been staying at a homeless encampment in nearby woods. Ames police reports show that Richards struggled with drug and alcohol abuse, mental health problems and homelessness after he got out of prison three months before he killed Barquin. He had served roughly seven months behind bars for violating the terms of his probation on convictions for burglary and other crimes.
Richards, 22, told a judge earlier this month that he was sorry for his crime. He said in a handwritten letter that he wanted to show remorse “for stripping a life from society … worse, from a loving family.”
Barquin was a top golfer in Spain as a teenager and came to Iowa State to pursue her career.
Her family is aware of Richards’ expression of remorse but “they don’t give too much credit to that apology at this time,” the family’s lawyer, Leon Vidaller, told The Des Moines Register.
Authorities have not been able to explain why Richards did it, which makes the loss even worse, Vidaller said. Richards’ family and friends have said his dependence on methamphetamine and other drugs likely led to mental health issues and the violence.
Richards being imprisoned for life—a mandatory sentence—won’t bring Barquin back, but it will give the family some closure, the lawyer said.
The Associated Press contributed to this report
