A Blaine woman who told police that she fatally stabbed her boyfriend during a fight and then had her 11-year-old daughter mop up the blood and dispose of the knife has been charged with first-degree manslaughter.
Artiesha Areatha Love, 30, made her first court appearance in Anoka County District Court on Thursday.
Love's two daughters, ages 9 and 11, were home at the time of the stabbing Monday evening, authorities said.
Love told police that Gregory Stallone Stewart, 29, showed up drunk at her apartment in Davenport Street and that they got into a fight during which he knocked out her front tooth. She then stabbed him twice within view of one of her daughters.
Blaine police found Stewart on the kitchen floor of Love's apartment. Love initially denied any involvement, but then told investigators that she "didn't mean to do it." Love told investigators the relationship was abusive.
Police interviewed Love's daughter, who witnessed the stabbing. She said she saw the couple shoving each other and her mother's tooth on the floor. The girl said her mother walked from the living room to the kitchen, came back to the living room with the knife and stabbed Stewart. He lost consciousness within a minute of the attack.
Love had her older daughter mop up blood and dump out the garbage, which contained the knife. Love then called her mother and brother, who called police about an hour after the stabbing.
In 2014, Stewart was convicted of domestic assault and of felony violating an order of protection.
