NEWPORT NEWS, Va. (WAVY) — A man was arrested in York County over the weekend and charged with first-degree murder in the fatal stabbing of a woman in Newport News.
Newport News police rushed out to an apartment on Louise Drive just before 6 p.m. Sunday night.
When they got there they found a woman lying on the bathroom floor. She had been stabbed several times.
Crews rushed 39-year-old Laquita Ball to the hospital, where she died a couple hours later.
As police were just starting their investigation, they got a call from a man saying he wanted to turn himself in.
43-year-old Lawrence Smith was taken into custody at a gas station on Route 17 in York County and taken to Newport News Police headquarters.
According to court paperwork, Smith said he was upset his girlfriend, Ball, was talking to another man.
He told police he grabbed a knife from the kitchen because he “wanted only to scare her.”
Smith says he pushed Ball into the shower. He went on to say he “poked her” with the knife at least twice.
Court paperwork says the knife broke in Smith’s hand and he left it at the scene as he left the apartment.
10 On Your Side learned Smith was under investigation in November. According to court paperwork, Ball’s 15-year-old daughter told investigators she was sexually assaulted by Smith.
An emergency protective order was put in place, but it later expired.
Police tell 10 On Your Side Smith was never charged because the victim changed her story.