Police: Fatal stabbing may have been in self-defense
STAMFORD — Police are trying to work out whether self defense played a part in a fatal stabbing that reportedly took place in the city early in the morning after Christmas.
Stamford resident Anissa Maples, 49, was charged with manslaughter and arraigned Monday at the Stamford courthouse. Walton Harris, 50, who police say had a prior relationship with Maples, died in the altercation, police said.
Judge Gary White told Maples to get an attorney before she comes back to court on Jan. 25. She was released over the weekend by police without bond after signing a promise to appear in court. The case has been placed on the Part A Docket where the most serous criminal cases in the courthouse are
adjudicated.
Major Crimes Lt. Tom Scanlon said police were called to Maples’ Montauk Drive home at 3:14 a.m. Saturday on the report of a man making a disturbance and refusing to leave. As officers were responding Maples called 911 to say she had stabbed Harris, police said.
When officers arrived they found Harris lying on the ground outside the residence with a single stab wound to his chest, police said.
Maples spoke to the first officers who arrived at the scene, Scanlon said, but later would not speak to investigators.
“We do not yet have a full picture of what happened that night,” he said.
Scanlon said the police department does not have record of domestic violence calls related to the couple, but added that investigators are looking into a claim that self defense played a role in the stabbing.
He said investigators are talking to witnesses and others in hopes of establishing the type of relationship the two had. He said the decision to let Maples go on her own recognizance was made after talking to the Stamford State’s Attorneys Office.
Little was said at Monday’s hearing, which was attended by about 25 people, many of whom appeared to be friends and family of Maples. A woman holding Maples’ arm as she walked out of the courthouse declined comment for her. No pleas were made in the case.
Harris’ death marks the sixth homicide in Stamford this year. In 2019 there were five.
The prosecutor on the case, Supervisory Assistant State’s Attorney Maureen Ornousky, declined to comment.
“It has been ruled a homicide and it is an ongoing investigation,” Ornousky said after the hearing.