Background: News footage of the scene in Milwaukee, Wis. on Sept. 29 (WISN). Inset: Rae”Jianna Hall (Milwaukee County Sheriff’s Office).
A woman from Wisconsin has been accused of reckless homicide after allegedly stabbing her cousin in the neck over a dispute related to assistance in securing a job at a Taco Bell.
Rae’Jianna Hall, age 19, continues to be held in the Milwaukee County Jail following the fatal stabbing of her 18-year-old cousin, Jaquveon Wright, on September 29. According to a criminal complaint examined by Law&Crime, a verbal altercation between Hall and Wright escalated into threats, eventually leading to Wright’s death from a neck wound.
Witnesses, including relatives who observed the incident, informed police that Hall was seeking Wright’s help to obtain employment at his workplace, Taco Bell.
The complaint revealed that Wright resided with his family, girlfriend, and Hall in a shared duplex in Milwaukee. The 911 call that prompted police intervention was made by Hall, who reported that Wright was upset because “she spat on him” before he “charged at and hit her.” She purportedly confessed to stabbing Wright in an act of self-defense.
Upon arriving, officers found Wright outside with a neck wound, bleeding profusely. Despite medical efforts, he was declared deceased at the scene.
Hall was immediately informed of her rights and questioned by authorities. She recounted her frustrations with Wright that day, mainly her dissatisfaction with him not assisting her in getting a Taco Bell job. Hall confessed to having used pepper spray on Wright, after which the cousins separated briefly.
Later, Hall said Wright came back into her room and she swiped at him with a knife, putting a hole in his shirt. She also claimed that Wright came into her room and “punched” her. During this alleged confrontation, Hall said she ended up cutting her own leg before she raised the knife over her head and stabbed Wright, who then ran out of the house.
Police said that surveillance video captured Wright running out of the house “with blood gushing from his neck” before he collapsed onto the ground.
Hall allegedly admitted that while she knew she could have killed Wright with the knife, she stated “that was not her intention.” She told police she was “scared,” but would not commit to saying whether the alleged stabbing was “accidental or intentional.”
When Wright’s mother was interviewed, she said she came home to find her son in the kitchen and Hall in a bedroom nearby, allegedly holding a knife with a 6- to 8-inch blade and saying to Wright, “I’m going to cut you.”
In her interview with police, Wright’s girlfriend said that around 2 p.m., Hall asked Wright to give her the number of the manager at the Taco Bell where Wright worked so she could apply for a job there. She said that she witnessed Hall’s numerous alleged threats and the pepper spray incident, and told police that it was “common” for Hall to threaten Wright, including a threat to “have people come up from Mississippi to fight” him. The girlfriend said she heard Hall say, “I’m going to stab you, I’m going to kill you” while “laughing.”
According to the complaint, she told police she saw Hall “swinging her fists” at her cousin, then seconds later saw “blood all over the walls” of Hall’s room.
Police arrested Hall and charged her with reckless homicide with enhancements for domestic abuse and the use of a deadly weapon. She remains in custody at the Milwaukee County Jail on $100,000 bond. Her next court date is scheduled for Oct. 14.
