Las Vegas Sun

March 29, 2024

Suspect, accused of stabbing boyfriend’s mom, says she acted in self-defense

When police arrived at the apartment complex Tuesday, they saw a woman covered in blood, trying to escape her apartment through the window. She had been stabbed several times, police said, and was taken to University Medical Center in critical condition.

The 57-year-old had been hosting her son and his 20-year-old girlfriend, Chelsea Clark, at her apartment at the 200 block of Mission Newport Lane, near Meadows Lane and Decatur Boulevard, Metro Police said.

The pair had traveled to Las Vegas from Reno on March 11, police said, to stay with the victim while Clark and her boyfriend looked for work.

The victim couldn’t provide a statement, but police said Clark gave her side of the story in a taped interview.

Clark said her boyfriend had left the apartment about 8 a.m. Tuesday to take his mother to an appointment. Two hours later, the woman returned without her son, saying he had been arrested. The discussion escalated into an argument and, according to Clark, around 5 p.m. the woman demanded she gather her belongings and leave. That’s when Clark said the woman grabbed a knife from the kitchen, and at some point stabbed herself under the chin.

The two fought, and Clark said she defended herself by hitting the woman when she tried to strangle her with a chord. Clark said she saw the woman bleeding, and when she tried to call for help, she said she was choked unconscious.

Clark said the next thing she remembers is the arrival of police and her subsequent arrest. Police impounded several items of evidence, including a kitchen knife with a 9-inch blade. Police say they weren’t convinced the woman’s injuries were purely related to self-defense. They arrested Clark on attempted murder and assault with a deadly weapon charges.

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