CHARLOTTE, NC - A woman in her thirties is accused of fatally stabbing the father of her child after she allegedly blocked his car from leaving for work before sparking a heated argument.
The alleged suspect, 32-year-old Keyara Shuntel McKnight, was arrested and charged with one count of murder in the death of 34-year-old John Christian, Law & Crime reported. According to a probable cause affidavit, officers with the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department (CMPD) responded to Tint World just after 6:00 p.m. on Tuesday, August 18, regarding a reported assault with a deadly weapon.
Upon arriving, police found Christian suffering from an apparent stab wound to his torso. Officers attempted life-saving measures, but he was pronounced dead at 6:29 p.m. Witnesses told investigators that Christian was closing the business when an older-model black Honda sedan pulled in front of his vehicle, "blocking it in."
"Witnesses observed a Black female arguing with the victim and slapping the victim," the affidavit stated. "Witnesses explained that the argument was heated and involved both parties screaming at each other and walking around the vehicles. Witnesses also described that the female entered the driver's seat of the victim's vehicle before the victim had to pull her out."
Following "prolonged arguing," the woman was seen getting back into her vehicle and fleeing the scene "at a high rate of speed," police wrote.
Investigators began looking into McKnight as a suspect after witnesses said they had seen the woman and her vehicle at the business before and believed she was the mother of Christian's child. Using street and Flock cameras, police were able to track a 2003 Honda Accord matching the description of the vehicle that fled the scene.
The Accord was registered to McKnight, and a witness identified a photograph of it as the vehicle seen fleeing Tint World. Union County sheriff's deputies found the Honda near Wilkerson Drive in Indian Trail. McKnight was reportedly sitting in the passenger seat.
"I'm the one you're looking for," she allegedly told deputies. The driver told detectives that McKnight had called her and said she "needed to turn herself in because she had done something bad." Investigators also found blood inside and outside the Honda after performing a search of the vehicle.
During an interview with detectives, McKnight allegedly acknowledged that Christian was the father of her child and said the two "frequently had arguments over child support." She further confirmed she was at Tint World and that she and Christian got into a physical altercation.
"McKnight stated that at one point 'he was on top and the next moment he was on the ground,'" police wrote. The investigation remains active and ongoing.
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