People v. Samson CA3

BACKGROUND

Defendant and Edmon began dating as teenagers and were intimate partners for almost 18 years until Edmon died. They had three children together. On June 2, 2018, defendant and Edmon returned home from a party and argued in the garage. Their daughter could hear arguing and things falling down. Defendant and Edmon entered the house, still arguing. As Edmon held defendant over a counter in the kitchen, she grabbed a knife and stabbed him twice, once in the heart and once in the right side of the chest. Edmon died at the hospital. Defendant was interviewed by detectives a few hours after the stabbing. She said she and Edmon had a history of domestic violence, but the last incident had been eight or nine years earlier. The older they got, the less they fought. Earlier in 2018, however, they had a big argument that got physical. She added that there had been a few times when they had fights. She said: “I know when I get hit, I definitely hit back, and I don’t stop.” Edmon had been arrested two or three times for domestic violence during their relationship. At the party and on the way home on the day Edmon died, defendant and Edmon argued about whether defendant would use…