Staff report
KANNAPOLIS ó A Kannapolis woman has been charged with murder in the early morning stabbing death of her teenage boyfriend.
The Rowan County Sheriff’s Office charged Emily Ann Howard, 26, of 2118 Lynn St., Kannapolis, this afternoon with killing Dustin Garren Lee, 17, also of 21l8 Lynn St.
He died at CMC- NorthEast in Concord.
Howard and her father, William Howard, who live at the same address, told investigators that she stabbed Lee while defending her father.
This afternoon, Capt. John Sifford said investigators presented evidence and statements to the District Attorney’s Office, resulting in the murder charge. District Attorney Bill Kenerly will decide on whether to seek a charge of first-degree at a later date.
Emily Howard is being held in the Rowan County Detention Center without bond.
Investigators say Lee, the victim, was in the process of moving out of the house when he was stabbed.
Sifford described their relationship as boyfriendńgirlfriend.
Shortly after 1 a.m. today, deputies were called to a disturbance at 2118 Lynn St. ó a street off Stone Avenue, off Moose Road near the Martin-Marietta Quarry.
Before they arrived, county 911 dispatchers advised deputies of another call that a man had been stabbed.
Sifford said the deputies arrived on the scene to find the victim lying in the yard.
The residents of the home, Emily Howard and William Howard, approached the deputies.
Sifford said Emily Howard told deputies she stabbed Lee while defending her father.
Sifford said the stabbing was a result of a domestic situation which had gone sour. “Dustin was getting his stuff together to leave … at some point he was apparently stabbed.”
Robert Earnhardt, chief of the Mount Mitchell Volunteer Fire Department, was the first medical responder on the scene.
Earnhardt said the victim had a large knife wound to the chest. “It was a good size wound, like from a butcher knife.”
Based on the amount of blood, Earnhardt said the knife most likely hit the heart. Although the first responders performed CPR on the victim on the way to the hospital, Earnhardt said they were not able to revive him.
The fire chief said the Lynn Street address is familiar to the fire department. “We’ve run a lot of domestic calls, different boyfriends, overdose calls, her (Emily Howard) and her father getting into fights.”
The body has been sent to the N.C. Medical Examiner’s Office to determine the number of wounds.
Sifford said the weapon was a knife or some type of sharp weapon.
Sifford said deputies have consulted with the District Attorney’s office. At this point charges will await the preliminary autopsy report and information collected by investigators.
According to the report, both Lee and Howard were unemployed.