A Springfield woman was arrested and charged with assault after allegedly stabbing a man who urinated on her living room floor.
Hailey McRell, 19, of Springfield, was arrested at about 2:20 p.m. June 24 on charges of first-degree assault in connection with an altercation earlier that day, according to court records.
According to a probable cause statement written by a Springfield police officer, McRell met the man who was stabbed on Sunday. McRell told officers the man had been drinking heavily prior to coming over to the apartment that McRell and another tenant share.
McRell told officers the two of them were lying on a couch and had been making out. McRell asked the man to leave, but the man refused, according to the statement. McRell told police she asked the man to leave several times, to which he responded by standing up and urinating on the floor.
“Who would do that?” McRell asked police officers during an interview, according to the statement. “What kind of person would do that?”
McRell said she was scared of the man, after he said that she could go ahead and hit him, according to the statement. Greene County Jail records show McRell is 5-foot-1, 120 pounds.
McRell reportedly said the man did not threaten her. She allegedly stabbed him once on the back, and when the man appeared to be unbothered, stabbed him several more times until he finally left the apartment.
According to the probable cause statement, McRell called 911 to get the man medical help. The man was taken to a Springfield hospital for treatment of “several stab wounds to his back and body.”
Online court records show McRell has no criminal history prior to her arrest June 24. She is charged with class B felony first-degree assault, class D felony second-degree assault and two counts of armed criminal action.
Under Missouri law, a person commits the act of first-degree assault if “he or she attempts to kill or knowingly causes or attempts to cause serious physical injury to another person.” Missouri sentencing guidelines list the range of punishment for first-degree assault at a minimum of five and a maximum of 15 years in prison upon conviction.
