Greenfield fatal stabbing, woman charged with reckless homicide

Woman charged in Greenfield stabbing

A woman is accused of fatally stabbing a man during what Greenfield police described as a "domestic disturbance" on Wednesday morning, Jan. 28.

GREENFIELD, Wis. - A woman is accused of fatally stabbing a man during what Greenfield police described as a "domestic disturbance" on Wednesday morning.

In court:

Milwaukee County prosecutors charged Morris, 29, with second-degree reckless homicide. She made her initial court appearance on Saturday, and her cash bond was set at $75,000.

FREE DOWNLOAD: Get breaking news alerts in the FOX LOCAL Mobile app for iOS or Android

Fatal stabbing

The backstory:

Police said they were called just after 3 a.m. on Jan. 28. When they got to the scene on Heritage Drive, near 55th and Edgerton, they found a stabbing victim unresponsive on the floor of an apartment.

The stabbing victim, a 32-year-old man, was taken to a hospital where he was pronounced dead. The Milwaukee County Medical Examiner's Office later identified him as Equanis Salinas.

Related

article

Greenfield homicide investigation; man stabbed, woman arrested

Greenfield police arrested a woman and are investigating a homicide after a man was stabbed inside an apartment early Wednesday morning, Jan. 28.

A woman, now identified as Morris, was arrested at the apartment.

Dig deeper:

According to a criminal complaint, a neighbor called 911 to report that she could hear "the guy beating up the girl" in another apartment. 

Morris was "frantic" and did not answer officers' questions at the apartment, per the complaint, but once she was in custody at the police department said she was "fearful for her life" and: "I end up grabbing a knife and I was mad, and I just swung the knife. I didn't know it was going to connect."

Court filings said investigators noted there were 17 knife punctures in a bedroom door, 12 of which went completely through the door. It "was apparent" the door was stabbed from the outside of the room. A kitchen knife with suspected blood on it – and the tip of the blade broken off – was found inside the bedroom.

SIGN UP TODAY: Get daily headlines, breaking news emails from FOX6 News

Prosecutors said Morris and Salinas were in a relationship, and their 4-year-old daughter was home at the time.

Morris told police that she and Salinas got into an argument when he came home on the night of the stabbing, the complaint said. Morris said it became physical, and they were "angry" and "tussling." Morris said she hit Salinas with a block, and Salinas grabbed her neck and "tried to suffocate her multiple times, even putting his knees to her chest until (she) could not breathe."

According to court filings, Salinas told Morris "she would die" and she told him, "No you can die." She scrambled to get up, and Salinas said he would "kill her." She said that's when she grabbed the knife and started stabbing the door. She said Salinas opened the door, and "the knife just went into his chest." He asked her to call 911 before he collapsed.

Prosecutors said Morris reiterated that she was "scared," and the stabbing was "a nervous reaction." She also said "all she wanted to do was get her things (from the room) so that she could leave with her daughter."

Initial appearance

What they're saying:

Court Commissioner Cedric Cornwall referenced the stabbing victim, previously identified as Equanis Salinas, during Morris' appearance on Jan. 31.

"The criminal complaint states, in part, on page two, she was mad because Salinas did not see anything wrong with his behavior," he said.

Prosecutors said Morris admitted to stabbing the man.

"There was a physical altercation where he strangled Ms. Morris, Ms. Morris struggles to get away," said prosecutor Abigail Heinz. "Ms. Morris then stabs the door 17 times, 12 of which made it through the door because, in her words, ‘she was angry.’ The door opens, and she connects to the victim's chest, stabbing him."

However, Morris' defense attorney said the stabbing was self-defense.

"(He) was beating her up, strangling her, she is screaming for help. There is no one there to help her, she is there by herself," said defense attorney Nicole Muller. "Morris is a woman who had been battered and abused for years, and this is not a woman who wanted the deceased to pass."

If the case goes to trial, self-defense is considered a valid defense if it was a "reasonable" way of stopping what the law describes as "unlawful interference."

Editor's note: This story was updated to include additional information.