Background: The location of the reported incident, an apartment complex in Waco, Texas, is shown via Google Maps. Inset: Emily LaVelle (McLennan County Sheriff’s Office).
A Texas woman reportedly had trouble on her mind when she allegedly stabbed two other women living in her apartment complex.
Emily LaVelle, 29, was released on bail following her arrest connected to an event at the Tennyson Arms apartments in Waco, Texas. LaVelle, a resident of the complex, had reportedly been involved in an earlier conflict with a female neighbor as detailed in an arrest affidavit accessed by Law&Crime. When questioned by the police about her mindset during the alleged confrontation with the neighbor, LaVelle reportedly said, “Do or die.”
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The affidavit mentions that police were dispatched to the apartment complex on the evening of June 7 following reports of a woman armed with a knife who had “just stabbed someone.” The woman then “barricaded” herself inside her own apartment within the complex.
When police arrived, they spoke to two women who claimed that LaVelle had stabbed them. One woman had a stab wound to her collarbone area, “near her throat.” The injured woman told police that LaVelle had come toward the group of people she was with while wielding a knife. According to the alleged victim, LaVelle stabbed another woman in the group, at which point a member of the group tried to restrain LaVelle.
According to the affidavit, witnesses said they had been able to keep LaVelle restrained until moments before police arrived, at which point she fled back to her apartment.
After the witnesses and the two alleged victims identified LaVelle, police swiftly apprehended her and took her into custody. She was brought to a hospital for a medical evaluation by police, where she stated that she had been in a “mutual combat physical altercation” with the first woman she allegedly stabbed earlier that day. That incident reportedly took place about an hour before the alleged stabbing.
LaVelle allegedly told police that following the first altercation, “she put a knife in her pocket.” After being read her rights, she continued to speak with police. According to the affidavit, she told police that after the first altercation, she went out to her car and saw the other woman, who was on her phone and “possibly calling the police.”
LaVelle then went back into her apartment, but told police that she did not have a knife, “directly contradicting her earlier statement.”
According to the affidavit, one of the officers asked LaVelle what she thought when she spotted the alleged victim. LaVelle responded, “[D]o or die.” When asked to elaborate on what her plans were, LaVelle allegedly explained that she intended to defend herself. The officer then asked LaVelle what she would do to defend herself, and she responded that “she would do anything.”
She added that if she had a knife on her, she would have “killed that b—.”
A motive was not provided for any of the altercations between LaVelle and her alleged victims.
LaVelle was charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and booked into the McLennan County Jail. She posted bond on June 8. Her next court date was not available.
