"Neighbors’ fight ends with woman dead, another charged with murder" by Laura Crimaldi Globe Staff December 20, 2016
A fight in the kitchen of a Dorchester apartment turned deadly early Tuesday, leaving one woman dead and another charged with murder.
Boston police stopped Elba Morales, 47, of Dorchester, at about 12:50 a.m. Tuesday as she allegedly tried to flee from Fayston Street in a red sedan. She is accused of killing 34-year-old Sasha Morris, who was found surrounded by blood and suffering from a stab wound to the abdomen, said Suffolk Assistant District Attorney Craig Iannini.
A not-guilty plea was entered on Morales’s behalf during her arraignment in Dorchester Municipal Court. Defense lawyer John Darrell said Morales suffered a serious bruise during the confrontation. She was ordered held without bail. “This is a real tragedy that we have just heard,” Darrell said. “There was a fight. There was a moment of grabbing the weapon and using it.”
Morris died at Boston Medical Center after officers and emergency medical technicians tried to save her by performing CPR, according to a police report filed in court.
The attack occurred in an apartment belonging to Morris’s boyfriend, who told police his girlfriend had been stabbed by a woman who was dressed all in black and fled to the third floor, authorities said.
Investigators believe the woman, later identified as Morales, fled to another apartment before leaving the building and trying to escape in a red sedan, officials said.
Officers found Morales as she attempted to shift her car into drive and ordered her to exit the vehicle, Iannini said. Morales allegedly told police, “I know. I’ve been to jail before,” the report said.
The officers performed a pat-down of Morales and her purse. She allegedly told them, “You’re not gonna find a knife in there [or] drugs.”
A witness told investigators Morales and Morris were fighting in the kitchen, the report said. After the witness broke up the fight, he said, Morales grabbed what appeared to be a steak knife and stabbed Morris in the chest, the report said.
Another witness told investigators that Morales claimed she attacked Morris because she slapped her, according to the report.
“The [expletive] slapped me so I had to cut her,” the police report quoted Morales as saying....
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