Women concoct story to avoid repercussions of stabbing accident, police say

Prosecutors on Monday declined to press assault charges against a 24-year-old woman who was arrested for allegedly stabbing her girlfriend after police detectives discovered the couple had concocted the story as an elaborate cover-up, police said.

The woman, Stephanie Trujillo and her girlfriend, Melissa Vasquez, initially told police that they had come to blows early Saturday after one accused the other of not having dinner ready on time, Sgt. Tom Lorenz said.

The couple told police that they struggled over control of a knife when Trujillo threatened to kill herself and stabbed her girlfriend, according to incident reports.

Police arrested Trujillo on suspicion of stabbing Vasquez, but they continued to investigate the case and interview witnesses.

Detectives soon discovered the couple had fabricated their accounts of the assault, Lorenz said. Prosecutors, he said, also rejected the case because it was accidental and there was “no intent to commit harm.”

“The whole story is false,” Lorenz said. “They made it up.”

The real story, they told police, was that Vasquez became angry when she saw a man standing outside her apartment when she arrived home, Lorenz said.

She entered their apartment and grabbed a knife to confront the man, but Trujillo tried to stop her.

They fought over the knife and accidently cut each other, Lorenz said.

Trujillo suffered a cut to her left forearm, and Vasquez was stabbed on her upper left thigh, according to police reports.

Once the couple realized what had happened, and that police had been called, they made up a cover-up story, Lorenz said.

Trujillo fled, but Vasquez called her to return, and she was met by police.

Vasquez reportedly told police that Trujillo was sleeping all day inside their apartment on the 300 block of Burchett Street, so she tried to kick her out upon noticing that dinner hadn’t been made.

That’s when Trujillo allegedly grabbed a 4-inch knife and threatened to hurt herself, prompting a scuffle in which Vasquez ended up getting stabbed.

Trujillo allegedly resisted officers as they tried to handcuff her, and they forced her inside the patrol car, according to the incident report.