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Inset: Fritzner Antoine (Knox County Jail). Background: The street where he killed his daughter in June 2023 (Google Maps).
A 64-year-old man in Indiana is set to spend the rest of his life in prison for the murder of his daughter, allegedly stabbing her to death because he felt “humiliated” due to her frequently leaving her children with him.
Knox County Circuit Judge Monica Gilmore announced on Monday that Fritzner Antoine would serve a 60-year sentence in a state correctional facility for the brutal murder of Sterline Antoine Joseph, as reported by authorities.
According to a press release from the Knox County Prosecutor’s Office, officers from the Vincennes Police Department responded to a call at approximately 7 a.m. on June 24, 2023, about a potential stabbing incident at a residence in the 1400 block of Audubon Road, located roughly 115 miles southwest of Indianapolis.
Upon arriving at the scene, first responders found a 30-year-old woman — later identified as Joseph — suffering from what appeared to be multiple stab wounds, Terre Haute NBC affiliate WTWO reported. She was pronounced dead on the scene.
Joseph’s two children were at the residence and “heard their mother’s screams as she was killed by her father (their grandfather),” according to prosecutors.
Antoine readily confessed to the killing, telling investigators his daughter had “disrespected him” by “asking him to watch her children too often.”
“Antoine stated that Victim 1 ‘humiliated’ him and continually left her children with him. Antoine stated that he selected a ‘gold’ ‘table knife’ from near the sink in the residence,” police wrote in a probable cause affidavit. “Antoine stated that he intended to ‘flog’ Victim 1 for being disrespectful to him, he had the knife in his hand, so he ‘did it.””
When police told Antoine that he was being placed under arrest for killing his daughter, he reportedly responded, “Yes, I agree.”
“The man said he selected a gold knife and stabbed her in the head or wherever else he could,” prosecutors wrote in the release.
The 60-year sentence handed down by Gilmore aligned with the duration recommended by prosecutors. The judge also addressed the court prior to giving Antoine a de facto life sentence.
“Members of the victim’s family were here today. 60 years or 600 years doesn’t change their lives,” she said. “Seeing the woman’s husband, her mother and other family members today helped make it clear what the limits of our system are. We try every single day to make a difference, but sometimes there really isn’t any justice or closure. All that we can do is keep trying to do what is right, keep trying to make a difference, and be willing to believe that sometimes what we do matters — even when it doesn’t seem to.”
Antoine and his daughter had both recently moved to Vincennes, Indiana, from Haiti when he killed her, according to WTWO.
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