Murder alleged in KC North stabbing

A 33-year-old woman was charged Wednesday in the stabbing death of a man early Tuesday in Kansas City, North.

Clay County prosecutors charged Tia D. Townsel with second-degree murder in the death of 32-year-old Jermaine J. Collins.

According to court records, Collins was stabbed during a fight with Townsel at an apartment at 115 N.W. Harlem Road.

A witness told Kansas City police that the two began punching and kicking each other after Collins kicked in the door of Townsel’s apartment to retrieve a pair of shoes. The fight spilled outside, where Collins hit Townsel in the head with a bottle of vodka, according to the witness.

Townsel then got a knife and as they struggled over the weapon, Collins was stabbed, according to the court records. Other witnesses also told police that Townsel stabbed Collins.

She suffered a cut on the hand but denied stabbing Collins, who she said had come over to her apartment to get his hair done. She told detectives that she was cut while trying to help Collins get away from a group of women who attacked him after he left her apartment, according to the court records.

This story was originally published June 24, 2015 at 10:56 AM.