Opinion ID: 1285745
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: Michelle Stinson Murder

Text: In September 1993, Michelle Stinson, age twenty, lived in an apartment in Charlotte, with her two young sons. On 15 September 1993, Stinson's friend, James Mayes, stopped by her apartment to visit with Stinson and her children. Mayes knocked on the front door, but no one answered. Mayes heard the children knocking on the window and telling him their mother was sleeping on the kitchen floor. Mayes thought they were playing a game, but Stinson did not answer. Mayes had turned to leave when the oldest child came out the back door and grabbed him. Mayes picked up the child and went back into the apartment through the back door. Mayes discovered Stinson lying on the kitchen floor with blood around her. Mayes picked up the phone but realized the cord had been cut or jerked out of the wall. Mayes took the children and asked neighbors to help him find a phone. He then called the police. Dr. Sullivan performed an autopsy on Stinson's body on 16 September 1993. He discovered four stab wounds to the left side of the back. Two of the four stab wounds caused injury to the heart and lungs and were potentially fatal. Dr. Sullivan also observed evidence of ligature strangulation in the form of a band of abrasions and contusions over the front of the neck and small hemorrhages in the skin of the face, the conjunctiva, and internally in the muscles of Stinson's neck. Dr. Sullivan opined that the cause of Stinson's death was stab wounds to the chest with strangulation as a contributing cause. Defendant confessed that he stopped by Stinson's apartment around 11:00 p.m., with the intention of raping and murdering her. They talked for a while, and then defendant got ready to leave and they hugged. At that point, defendant told Stinson that he wanted to have sex with her and that he wanted her to remove her clothes. Stinson told defendant she was sick, but defendant did not believe her and wanted her to produce some sort of medication, which she could not do. Defendant began to choke Stinson. Stinson then agreed to have sex with defendant and removed her clothes. Defendant told Stinson he wanted her to perform oral sex on him, but she stated she did not know how. Defendant responded, well you're about to learn. Stinson then performed oral sex on defendant. After having sexual intercourse on the kitchen floor, defendant administered a choke hold until Stinson became unconscious. Defendant strangled Stinson with a towel he had retrieved from the bathroom. Stinson began to gasp for air, so defendant took a knife and stabbed her approximately four times. Defendant used a washcloth to wipe his fingerprints from a glass, the door, the phone, the wall, and the floor. Before defendant left the apartment, Stinson's oldest son awoke, and defendant told him to go back to bed. Defendant left through the back door, using a towel to avoid leaving fingerprints, and threw the knife and washcloth over a fence near the back of Stinson's apartment.