Waseca woman charged with attempted murder

Kristine Goodrich, The Free Press, Mankato, Minn.
·1 min read

Apr. 2—A Waseca woman is charged with attempted murder after allegedly stabbing her boyfriend in the chest in front of her children in Owatonna.

Tierrah Vachon Lee Wells, 34, was charged with second-degree attempted murder as well as felony assault Thursday in Steele County.

Two witnesses said they saw Wells with a kitchen knife shortly before a man was stabbed in an Owatonna apartment early Tuesday morning, according to a court complaint. The victim was airlifted to the Mayo Clinic Hospital Saint Marys Campus with two stab wounds to his chest.

The man's two roommates told authorities the man was stabbed by his girlfriend, later identified as Wells. They were in another room but said they heard the pair arguing and saw the girlfriend with a knife, the charges said.

The victim said "she stabbed me," according to one of the roommates. The roommate believed the woman's two children might have witnessed the assault.

The girlfriend left with her children before police arrived, the witnesses said. Investigators identified Wells as a suspect because the victim had a restraining order against her.

Waseca police located Wells with her two children, ages 5 and 6. One of the children told a social worker his mother poked the man with a knife twice.

Wells initially claimed she was never at the apartment and later admitted she was there but denied stabbing him. She said her boyfriend kicked her out around 9 p.m. But surveillance video shows her leaving the apartment at 3:47 a.m., which was the same time a roommate called 911.

Wells was in the Steele County Jail and is to make a first court appearance next week.

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