Imani Smith, who once played a young Nala in Disney’s “The Lion King” on Broadway, died on Sunday after she was found with stab wounds at a home, according to the Middlesex County, New Jersey, Prosecutor’s Office.Video above: Remembering those we lost in 2025She “had her whole life ahead of her,” a GoFundMe account set up by Smith’s aunt, Kira Helper, said. “She was a vivacious, loving and fiercely talented person.”On December 21, just after 9:15 a.m., authorities in Edison, New Jersey, received a 911 call about a stabbing, according to a release.”Upon their arrival to a residence on Grove Avenue, they discovered Imani Smith, 26, of Edison with stab wounds,” the release said. Smith was transported to Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital, where she was declared dead.Officials have arrested Jordan D. Jackson-Small, 35, of Edison, in connection with Smith’s death. Authorities said the two knew each other before the incident and described it as “not a random act of violence.”Smith’s father, Rawni Helper, said in a phone call with CNN Saturday that Jackson-Small is the father of Smith’s 3-year-old son.Jackson-Small is facing several charges, authorities said, including first-degree murder and third-degree possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose. He is currently being held at the Middlesex County Adult Corrections Center according to jail records.CNN has reached out to his attorney at the Middlesex County public defenders office for commentSmith worked from 2011 to 2012 for Disney’s “The Lion King,” Broadway’s third-longest running show, according to Playbill.The former child actress is survived by her son, “her parents, her two younger siblings, and an extended family, friends, and community who loved her so very much,” the GoFundMe said.”A true triple-threat performer, she most notably played the role of Young Nala on Broadway in Disney’s Lion King — an experience that reflected the joy, creativity, and light she put into the world,” the post, which has raised more than $70,000, said.CNN’s Sarah Dewberry contributed to this report.
CNN —
Imani Smith, who once played a young Nala in Disney’s “The Lion King” on Broadway, died on Sunday after she was found with stab wounds at a home, according to the Middlesex County, New Jersey, Prosecutor’s Office.
Video above: Remembering those we lost in 2025
She “had her whole life ahead of her,” a GoFundMe account set up by Smith’s aunt, Kira Helper, said. “She was a vivacious, loving and fiercely talented person.”
On December 21, just after 9:15 a.m., authorities in Edison, New Jersey, received a 911 call about a stabbing, according to a release.
“Upon their arrival to a residence on Grove Avenue, they discovered Imani Smith, 26, of Edison with stab wounds,” the release said. Smith was transported to Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital, where she was declared dead.
Officials have arrested Jordan D. Jackson-Small, 35, of Edison, in connection with Smith’s death. Authorities said the two knew each other before the incident and described it as “not a random act of violence.”
Smith’s father, Rawni Helper, said in a phone call with CNN Saturday that Jackson-Small is the father of Smith’s 3-year-old son.
Jackson-Small is facing several charges, authorities said, including first-degree murder and third-degree possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose. He is currently being held at the Middlesex County Adult Corrections Center according to jail records.
CNN has reached out to his attorney at the Middlesex County public defenders office for comment
The former child actress is survived by her son, “her parents, her two younger siblings, and an extended family, friends, and community who loved her so very much,” the GoFundMe said.
“A true triple-threat performer, she most notably played the role of Young Nala on Broadway in Disney’s Lion King — an experience that reflected the joy, creativity, and light she put into the world,” the post, which has raised more than $70,000, said.
A Chula Vista police cruiser. (Photo courtesy of Chula Vista Police Department)
A 24-year-old man died Tuesday night after being stabbed near a convenience store in the South Bay and the Chula Vista Police Department said a suspect is in custody.
Officers were called around 9:45 p.m. to an AMPM on Palomar Street, where they found the victim with multiple stab wounds.
He was taken to UCSD Medical Center and later pronounced dead. His name is being withheld pending family notification.
Investigators determined the attack happened on the 1100 block of Trenton Avenue. Police later arrested 21-year-old Gunnar Martin, who was booked into San Diego County jail on suspicion of murder.
The downtown San Diego Superior Court and satellite courts will have new download charges starting Jan. 1, 2021. (File photo by Chris Stone/Times of San Diego)
A jury has convicted a man of first-degree murder after he fatally stabbed his stepfather at their Rancho Bernardo home.
Pablo Johnson, 26, was found guilty on Tuesday of killing Michael Johnson, 61, at their Caminito Campana home on the evening of Jan. 28, 2024.
According to trial testimony, the victim sustained over 100 stab wounds and cuts, mostly to his head, face and neck.
A woman walking her dog just before 6 p.m. saw a bloody Michael Johnson draped over the railing of the home’s patio and called 911. Officers arrived a short time later and arrested Pablo Johnson, while Michael Johnson was pronounced dead at the scene.
Deputy District Attorney Cassidy McWilliams told jurors that the relationship between the defendant and victim had grown contentious over what she said was the defendant’s unwillingness to work or take care of chores around the residence.
Jurors were shown text messages between the pair that displayed escalating arguments over household chores and living expenses, which culminated in a physical altercation one day before the killing.
McWilliams said the defendant attacked his stepfather on Jan. 28 and stabbed him with enough force to break the knife into multiple pieces.
Deputy Public Defender Leanne Skirzynski said what occurred that evening was more akin to a mutual fight, which she said was sparked by the victim. She told jurors Michael Johnson had been consistently abusive to her client and had physically assaulted him on numerous prior occasions.
She said that yet another argument between the pair on Jan. 28 resulted in Michael Johnson charging at her client in the home’s kitchen, prompting Pablo Johnson to grab the first thing he could to defend himself, which was a knife.
Both men armed themselves with knives and during the ensuing melee, Skirzynski said, her client was “flailing” his knife, rather than targeting any particular place on his stepfather’s body. Another knife found near Michael’s body bore none of her client’s DNA, she said.
The prosecutor said that while Michael Johnson had multiple stab wounds and other injuries, Pablo Johnson had virtually no wounds to his body, other than a pair of small cuts to his hands, which she said were likely accidental self-inflicted wounds sustained during the fatal attack.
The NYPD Crime Scene Unit processes a fatal double stabbing at Ridgewood Avenue and Cresent Street.
Photo by Lloyd Mitchell
A double stabbing in Brooklyn’s Cypress Hills neighborhood early Friday left a 30-year-old man dead and another man hospitalized, police said.
Officers from the 102nd Precinct in Queens responded just before 1 a.m. to Jamaica Hospital Medical Center after two men arrived there by private transportation with stab wounds, according to the NYPD.
A 30-year-old man who had been stabbed in the armpit was later pronounced dead, police said, noting that a 25-year-old man who suffered a stab wound to the stomach was listed in stable condition.
Investigators later determined the stabbings took place near Ridgewood Avenue and Crescent Street, within the 75th Precinct, in Cypress Hills.
So far, police have yet to ascertain a possible motive for the stabbing or a suspect’s description. Sources familiar with the case said the 25-year-old victim has been highly uncooperative.
Police cordon off Ridgewood Avenue in Brooklyn’s Cypress Hills on Friday following a double stabbing that killed a 30-year-old man and injured another.Photo by Lloyd Mitchell
The identity of the man who died is being withheld pending family notification.
As the Crime Scene Unit processed the scene early Friday, onlookers wondered what had led up to the situation, but said it was not an unfamiliar scene in the area.
“There is always something going on over here; it never fails,” said Crystal Rodriguez, who has lived in the neighborhood for eight years. “This is my third or fourth time seeing the crime scene unit here.”
Barry King, another long-time resident, said the area needs a stronger police presence. “There is always senseless violence here. We are tired of it.”
A pair of glasses lays on the ground near an evidence marker.Photo by Lloyd Mitchell
The 75th Precinct has seen a 29.6% uptick in homicides year-to-date through Aug. 31, according to the most recent CompStat report. As of the end of August, the Cypress Hills precinct had logged 9 homicides, up from 7 during the same period last year
As of Aug. 31, homicides in the 75th Precinct were up nearly 29% compared with the same period last year, according to police data.
No arrests have been made in this case, and anyone with information regarding the incident is encouraged to call Crime Stoppers at 800-577-TIPS (for Spanish, dial 888-57-PISTA). You can also submit tips online at crimestoppers.nypdonline.org or on X (formerly Twitter) @NYPDTips. All calls and messages are kept confidential.
Detectives have yet to determine how the incident unfolded, as the surviving victim has reportedly been uncooperative.Photo by Lloyd Mitchell
Police in San Jose were seeking the public’s help in finding suspects in a 2019 fatal stabbing and have released surveillance video in the hope of generating leads in the case.
The stabbing happened on October 6, 2019, at about 9:25 p.m. on Alum Rock Avenue just east of U.S. Highway 101. The San Jose Police Department said in a press release that officers who responded to a brawl involving multiple people found a man who had been stabbed. The victim was taken to a hospital, where he died of his injuries.
Police said the investigation determined that during the fight, one of the three teenage suspects pulled out a knife and stabbed the victim at least once. The three suspects ran away, heading west on Alum Rock Avenue over the Highway 101 overpass and then heading north on North 27th Street, cutting through a McDonald’s restaurant parking lot.
Investigators have not been able to identify the suspects, and on Wednesday, the department released surveillance video of the suspects running away on Alum Rock Avenue and through the McDonald’s parking lot.
Police described the suspects as Hispanic males in their early teens with average builds at the time of the stabbing.
The motive and circumstances surrounding the fight and stabbing are still under investigation, police said.
Anyone with information about the suspects or the incident was urged to contact Detective Sergeant Barragan #4106 or Detective Harrington #4365 of the department’s homicide unit at 4106@sanjoseca.gov and/or 4365@sanjoseca.gov or at (408) 277-5283.
Cole Premo is digital manager for CBS Minnesota. For more than a decade, he's been covering breaking news and weather, daily topics, stories from the Native community and more in Minnesota.
JOLIET, Ill. (WLS) — Tragedy in Joliet after a 6-year-old boy stabbed his 2-year-old brother to death on Friday evening.
Investigators said they were called to a home after 5 p.m. on the 2700-block of Fairway Drive. When they arrived they found the boy had been stabbed multiple times.
Police say the 6-year-old stabbed his younger brother with a kitchen knife.
The toddler was rushed to the hospital where he died.
Joliet Police tells us the 6-year-old stabbed his brother with a kitchen knife.
“Everyone in this incident is a victim,” said Sgt. Dwayne English with the Joliet Police Department. “There’s such a sense of humanity in incidents like this where both the family and the people directly involved in this incident, and also frankly our officers, that respond. “We are human beings and this a definitely taken a toll on everyone involved.”
Police said it was the mother who called 911 after finding her 2-year-old son. She was inside the home at the time of the stabbing but was in a different room, police said.
The Department of Children and Family Services is aware of what happened and is working with police, officials said.
DCF coordinated with the Will County Health Department Screening Assessment Support Services to have the 6-year-old transported by ambulance to a local hospital for a mental health evaluation.
Police said their department has had contact with the family in the past but did not say what kind of contact that was or who it involved.
Investigators said they are now working to try to determine why this happened and what led up to the incident.
“We are always looking for the why,” said English. “Those are answers we are hopeful that we are going to get but we may never get just because of some of the difficulties that surround the investigation.”
MINNEAPOLIS — A house party in Minneapolis took a violent turn early Sunday when a fight led to a fatal stabbing, police said.
Around 3:15 a.m., 911 callers on the 3400 block of Penn Avenue North said they were at a party and heard screaming. Officers responded and found a 31-year-old man with multiple stab wounds.
The man was taken to North Memorial Health, where he died. Police did not publicly identify him.
A San Dimas woman has been arrested in the fatal stabbing of her wife with a sword during a fight at their home, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department said.
Weichien Huang, 44, was booked on suspicion of the murder of Chen Chen Fei, 47, on July 18.
Huang attacked Fei with the weapon during an argument in the couple’s home, the Sheriff’s Department said in a statement. She also allegedly attacked and injured Fei’s mother, who despite her injuries was able to wrest the sword away from Huang and run into the street for help.
Deputies responding to the couple’s home in the 300 block of South Huntington Avenue first encountered a bloodied woman in the street holding a sword who approached deputies as they drove up in their police cruiser, according to reporting from news station KTLA.
She complied with directions to put down the sword and directed deputies to the residence, where they discovered Fei’s body and a second uninjured woman.
Fei’s mother remains in stable condition at a local hospital.
One man is in custody following a fatal stabbing on USC’s Greek Row after a car break-in, Los Angeles police said.
About 8:15 p.m. Monday, firefighters were called to the 700 block of West 28th Street in response to a stabbing, said LAPD officer Norma Eisenman.
The victim, described as a homeless man in his 30s, was breaking into a vehicle when he was confronted by a man in his 20s who pulled out a knife and “stabbed the victim numerous times,” Eisenman said.
Paramedics arrived and pronounced the victim dead at the scene. The man who stabbed him remained at the scene and was taken into custody, Eisenman said. It was not immediately clear if the man taken into custody was a USC student.
The trial is scheduled to resume at 8 a.m. Tuesday. WCCO will have live coverage, which you can watch via CBS News Minnesota, Pluto TV or the CBS News app on your phone or connected TV.
Day one recap
Among the first witnesses was Ryan Nelson, the best friend of Isaac Schuman, one of the five people stabbed and the only person who died from his injuries.
Nelson said he was positive that Miu started the fight when he hit one of the victims.
WCCO
During an intense cross-examination, defense attorneys were quick to challenge Nelson’s memory of events.
The prosecution also showed two cellphone video clips, less than four minutes in total, detailing much of what happened that day on the Apple River.
In the first video, which is just nine seconds long, someone is heard saying Miu was “looking for little girls.” The defense was quick to note there were not little girls near him in the video.
In another three-and-a-half minute clip, Miu can be seen running towards the group of tubers and underlying audio can be heard indicating Miu was asked more than 20 times by the groups to go away.
Then the physical confrontation begins, with pushing and shoving and, ultimately, the stabbings.
Legal expert Joe Tamburino, who’s not affiliated with the case, said now it’s up to both sides to call witnesses that will help give these clips context.
“What they’re also going to point out is what led up to parts of the video,” Tamburino said. “You see at the beginning when the video is played, all we see is Mr. Miu basically running toward these young men and we don’t know why, and that’s where witness testimony will be very important so it can explain, where did he come from? Why was he coming near the young men? What was he saying, what was he doing? All of that’s not on the video.”
Pauleen is a journalist with a passion for telling stories. Nothing makes her happier than talking to ordinary extraordinary people, and using beautiful pictures and solid writing to share their amazing stories with the world.
ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. – Two 16-year-old girls were stabbed late Friday in Orange County, one of whom has since died, according to the sheriff’s office.
Deputies responded around 11 p.m. to a physical altercation near an Amscot in the 700 block of South Goldenrod Road, locating the two girls upon their arrival, the Orange County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement.
Both of the girls were hospitalized in critical condition and one of them later died from her injuries, the statement reads.
The sheriff’s office said it’s still investigating.
No further details were shared or confirmed at the time of this report.
Note: This map depicts the general area of this scene and not necessarily its exact location.
A man was fatally stabbed inside a home in Beltsville, Maryland, on Sunday night, according to Prince George’s County police.
A man was fatally stabbed inside a home in Beltsville, Maryland, on Sunday night, according to Prince George’s County police.
Officers were called at around 9 p.m. to a house on Queen Anne Avenue near Baltimore Avenue for a reported cutting, according to Prince George’s County police. When police arrived, they found an unidentified man with multiple stab wounds.
The man died at the scene, police said.
Police said the incident doesn’t appear to be random, but a suspect hasn’t been publicly identified.
LOWER MAKEFIELD TWP., Pennsylvania (WPVI) — Police in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, are investigating after authorities say a woman was stabbed to death by her ex-boyfriend.
Officers responded to a burglary call at the residence on the 2500 block of Waterford Road in Lower Makefield Township around 3 p.m. Friday.
When they arrived, they reportedly saw 23-year-old Trevor Weigel, of Churchville, stabbing his 19-year-old ex-girlfriend outside her home.
The woman, who has not been identified, was pronounced dead at the scene.
Chopper video shows a large police scene on Waterford Road in Lower Makefield Township on Feb. 16, 2024, following a deadly stabbing.
Officers then chased after the suspect who fled to the area of I-295. When officers caught up to him, police say he was stabbing himself in the neck.
Authorities say officers used a Taser on the suspect before taking him to an area hospital.
Chopper video showed officers cordoning off a large portion of the neighborhood. Residents who live in the Brookstone Condos are upset and shocked after their young neighbor was violently killed.
“Great neighborhood. Something like this is just horrible,” said neighbor Bill Walsh.
“It’s really sad and really devastating that somebody was here and now gone just a couple of hours ago,” added Victor Miranda who lives in the area.
Police say Weigel underwent surgery for life-threatening injuries at the hospital.
Authorities are trying to determine what led up to the deadly stabbing. Investigators are also looking into Weigel’s criminal history. Records show he has traffic violations in Bucks County.
“It’s terrible. It shouldn’t happen. It’s sad for the whole family,” said Lower Makefield Township Police Captain Jason Braim.
A Thousand Oaks woman who faced the prospect of life in prison if convicted of the stabbing death of a man she was dating was sentenced Tuesday to two years probation and 100 hours of community service after arguing that she was on a cannabis-induced psychosis during the killing.
Authorities responded to a Thousand Oaks apartment on May 27, 2018, and found that Bryn Spejcher, 32, had stabbed Chad O’Melia, 26, dozens of times, then turned the knife on herself and her dog. She was arrested on suspicion of murder and charged with that offense.
But in an extraordinary turn of events last year, a prosecutor’s medical expert agreed with a defense expert for Spejcher that the behavior was the result of cannabis-induced psychosis, which she suffered after taking hits from the victim’s bong.
The expert conducted what prosecutors characterized as tests that showed she was not exaggerating or faking her behavior that day. Prosecutors opted to reduce the charge to involuntary manslaughter with a series of enhancements.
That decision came after psychologist Kris Mohandie, a consultant for law enforcement, examined Spejcher, her interviews with law enforcement and police body-camera footage and produced a 37-page report that concluded she had lost touch with reality due to highly potent marijuana.
After four hours of deliberation, a jury in December found her guilty of involuntary manslaughter — a charge that can carry a four-year prison sentence.
Ventura County Superior Court Judge David Worley, however, opted to sentence her to 100 hours of community service in the form of educating others on marijuana-induced psychosis and two years of formal probation.
Spejcher had been dating O’Melia for a couple of weeks when she went to the apartment. Shortly after taking a second hit from a bong, Spejcher began “hearing and seeing things that weren’t there” and believing she was dead, and that she had to stab O’Melia in order to bring herself back to life, according to the district attorney’s office.
In her closing statement, Spejcher told the judge, “I wish I could go back in time and prevent this tragedy from happening.
“I wish I had known more about the dangers of marijuana,” she added. “Had I known, I would never have smoked it that night or at all.”
Her attorney Michael Goldstein lauded the ruling.
“Today, Ventura Superior Court Judge did the right thing and imposed a sentence that was fair and accurately reflected Ms. Spejcher’s conduct and recognized that it was the contents of the marijuana she was given that was the sole cause of her psychotic breakdown,” he said. “It was clear that she had no control of her faculties and never intended to cause any harm. All of the medical experts agreed, including the expert called by the district attorney’s office.”
STEPHANIE FERNANDES: This is like a nightmare, a walking nightmare …
STEPHANIE FERNANDES: …what happened to him I can’t take it.
OFFICER PERO: I know this is, I know this is a traumatic night, OK?
STEPHANIE: No, no. Please tell me Andy’s OK.
OFFICER PERO: We have to get through this, OK?
STEPHANIE FERNANDES: Oh, please tell me Andy’s OK, please …
At around 10:30 the night before, after a sudden bloody encounter with Andy at their home in Worcester, Massachusetts, Stephanie says she couldn’t find her cell phone, so she rushed to a neighbors’ house to get help.
Angelina Fernandes (driving with Peter Van Sant to her former home): It’s coming up on the left.
Peter Van Sant: Which house?
Angelina Fernandes: Right here on the left.
Stephanie’s daughter Angelina Fernandes now 20, was just 11 years old that night.
Peter Van Sant: Where was your bedroom?
Angelina Fernandes: Um, I don’t know, upstairs.
Peter Van Sant: But can you still remember.
Angelina Fernandes: Yeah, it’s like pictures.
Angelina Fernandes, 20, with “48 Hours” correspondent Peter Van Sant. She was 11 when her mother was accused of murder.
CBS News
Angelina Fernandes: So, I was sleeping, and I heard the door slam shut, and it woke me up. And then I just heard my mom from outside, “Help me, someone help me.” And then I just hear my mom screaming and crying.
Peter Van Sant: When you looked from that balcony down and could see your mother and Andy –
Angelina Fernandes: And then I saw them giving CPR on him.
Angelina Fernandes: I just remember my mom. … And then she spotted me upstairs and she pointed at me, and she was like, “Someone get her, someone get my daughter!”
Police took Angelina to a relative’s house. Andy was rushed by paramedics to the hospital. Police took Stephanie to the station, where she was led into an interrogation room and interviewed for almost three hours.
STEPHANIE FERNANDES: No. No. Please tell me Andy’s OK.
OFFICER PERO: We have to get through this, OK?
STEPHANIE FERNANDES: Oh, please tell me Andy’s OK … I can’t even talk. Like, he’s my life. It doesn’t even matter. Like, I love him so much …
STEPHANIE FERNANDES: Please. I don’t—no, no. I don’t know what to do. Like,
I’m gonna freak out …
OFFICER: Sit down for a second.
STEPHANIE FERNANDES: I don’t wanna hear nothin’. I don’t wanna hear nothin’. And if anything bad happened to my family, no, please don’t tell me. I know I look psycho. Please.
OFFICER PERO: Stephanie —
STEPHANIE FERNANDES: Please.
OFFICER PERO: — just for right now, I just want to get some basic information.
STEPHANIE FERNANDES: OK.
Stephanie Fernandes was taken to the Worcester Police Department where she was interviewed for almost three hours.
Worcester Superior Court
Detective William Pero led the questioning
OFFICER PERO: Before we talk about the incident that occurred tonight, I have to read you your rights.
STEPHANIE FERNANDES: OK.
OFFICER PERO: You have the right to use a telephone to … contact an attorney. Do you understand this right Stephanie?
OFFICER PERO: Right now, we can’t talk to Andrew. I can talk to you, OK.
STEPHANIE FERNANDES: Why can’t you talk to him?
The officers press on, telling Stephanie that Wagner is in the hospital. Stephanie appears to settle down a bit.
OFFICER PERO: Well, something did happen. You’re covered in blood.
STEPHANIE FERNANDES: I know. No. Oh yeah …
OFFICER PERO: You have a lotta blood on you and that’s, I would assume that’s Andrew’s blood?
STEPHANIE FERNANDES: Yes. This is Andrew’s blood.
Stephanie changes into a white coverall. And two hours into her interview finally learns Andy’s fate.
OFFICER PERO: Andrew is no longer with us. And there’s a reason why that happened, but we don’t know that reason yet.
STEPHANIE FERNANDES: Oh my God. Oh my God.
Stephanie is told Andy is dead. She begins to reveal details of what happened that night.
STEPHANIE FERNANDES: What happened was we got into an altercation, and he was hitting me. And that’s what happened. And he pulled out a knife and guns. … He started like choking me and hittin’ me and stuff.
An autopsy would later reveal Wagner had bled to death after being stabbed in the neck. Stephanie was later charged with first-degree murder.
Stephanie Fernandes talked publicly for the first time to “48 Hours” about the death of her fiancé Andrew Wagner.
Stephanie Fernandes: I never, never, and never would kill someone, harm someone in that way, on purpose.
Stephanie Fernandes: I will always love him.
Stephanie Fernandes and Andrew Wagner moved in together almost immediately after meeting and eventually got engaged.
Maura Tansley/Defense team
But how did it come to this? Just five years earlier Stephanie was smitten with Andrew Wagner.
Stephanie Fernandes: Blue eyes, really nice smile, … Nice hair. … just really handsome and
Um, really fun personality, very talkative.
Peter Van Sant: And did you feel an attraction to him right away?
Stephanie Fernandes: Yes, I did. We had chemistry, a lot.
At the time, Andy worked at the tire shop of a Costco. He dreamed of working in law enforcement. In the beginning, Angelina got along with him.
Peter Van Sant: What kind of things would — did you guys do together?
Angelina Fernandes: We used to watch “Criminal Minds” together.
Peter Van Sant: Did your mom ever tell you … “Angelina, I, I love Andrew, I — I’d like to — I’d like to marry Andrew someday?”
Angelina Fernandes: Yes. She wanted that so bad. … a stable family for me and her. … She just — she wanted that.
But what Angelina didn’t know at the time was that her mother’s life with Andy Wagner also had a violent side, recalled Stephanie’s friend Danielle Lord.
Danielle Lord: She constantly had, like, grab marks on her arms. She had marks on her inside of her legs, like I have never seen in my life.
A VOLATILE RELATIONSHIP
Angelina Fernandes (referencing a photo with her mother):The little girl is me, and my mom is next to me, Stephanie Fernandes. … so tender and loving and … She was high energy and — I was like her little sidekick.
Angelina was just 6 years old when Andrew Wagner came into her life. She remembers good times at the beach, family gatherings and vacations.
Angelina Fernandes: We would actually go to Cape Cod every summer to his parent’s Cape house, which was fun.
“She wanted to have, like, that picture perfect All-American dream family with a nice house and kids,” said Angelina, pictured with her mother and Wagner.
Rena Johnson
Angelina Fernandes: She loved him. She wanted a house with him. She wanted to get married to him. She wanted babies.
In those early times, Angelina says her mom never said how she met Andy Wagner and never revealed what she did for a living that kept her away at night.
Danielle Lord: She was beautiful. … she just had these piercing eyes, first, that you notice. And her hair was just beautiful.
Danielle Lord worked with Stephanie in a Massachusetts night club.
Danielle Lord: We both were very intimidating. A lot of men would say that we were intimidating, especially together. That’s attractive to men. … We just became this kind of duo.
Peter Van Sant: And had you been trained in dancing at all?
Stephanie Fernandes: I took dance classes when I was younger, not in that way.
Stephanie was a single mom. She says after she split up with Angelina’s father, she needed to earn a paycheck.
Stephanie Fernandes: I would go in there, make a lotta money, and then I would get out
And — and be there for my mom … and my daughter.
Andrew “Andy” Wagner
Worcester Superior Court
One night, back in 2009, a new guy at the club caught her eye.
Stephanie Fernandes: I was on stage. And he was there
Stephanie Fernandes: We just started talking and talked for, like, an hour.
Danielle Lord: She was instantly attracted to him. She wanted to be with him. She didn’t look at him like a customer. She was like, “Oh, this is a cute guy. I like him.”
At first, Stephanie loved the attention.
Stephanie Fernandes: I thought, “Oh he’s just into me. He just really likes me.”
Danielle Lord: I think she just had stars in her eyes.
Danielle says Stephanie and Andy’s relationship quickly became a little obsessive.
Danielle Lord: A lot of alarms went off whenever Steph met Andy. And — you know, alarms that she couldn’t hear. … He was completely … possessive right from the beginning. Andy was calling her nonstop, messaging her … and showing up at the club right from the beginning.
Stephanie and Andy moved in together almost immediately in Worcester, Massachusetts.
Danielle says their relationship moved from obsessive to dangerous.
Danielle Lord: I’ve never in my life seen bruises like that ever. And I don’t — I don’t even wanna think of what she went through to get the — those bruises.… We were covering it with makeup. … when she had the bruising down there, there was nothing you could do to cover it.
Soon after moving in together, Stephanie says, Andrew demanded some changes.
Peter Van Sant: Did he demand that you stop dancing?
Stephanie Fernandes: Oh, yeah. Yes. … His girl was not gonna dance at a club. And I said, jokingly, nervously, jokingly, “Well who’s gonna pay my bills?”
Peter Van Sant: And why did he want you to quit?
Stephanie Fernandes: Because of the attention, the men … taking off my top in front of men.
Stephanie says she stopped dancing, but the violence continued.
Stephanie Fernandes: He’s hit me in my head and my face. He’s choked me …
Stephanie Fernandes says she took this photo of her black eye in 2010.
Credit: Worcester Superior Court
Stephanie says she took this photo of her black eye, shown above, in 2010.
StephanieFernandes: Oh, body shots. All over the place. My mouth. My eyes. Everywhere.
Peter Van Sant: Why didn’t you ever call the police and report this violence?
Stephanie Fernandes: I was told that bullets can go through paper. It would mean nothin’ with a restraining order. He would get to me way quicker than the cops would. And just — I would die if I left him.
Danielle Lord: I can’t explain it. It’s very hard to leave a domestic violence situation. … You don’t have your own money. You don’t have anywhere to go. … you know, you’re broken down completely. … Your brain is like scrambled eggs, and you can’t think for yourself. And you just walk around every day like … you’re in shock. … You just wanna end the day, and when you wake up the next day, it’s just another day doing the same thing. So … I think she was just stuck in a situation that she didn’t know how to get out of.
In spite of their volatile relationship, in 2012, Stephanie and Andy were engaged. A short time later, Andy became a corrections officer.
Peter Van Sant: You and Andy had bought a condo together. You were planning a wedding, correct?
Stephanie Fernandes: Yes.
Stephanie Fernandes said Andrew Wagner would become jealous, and threatened to kill her if she did not listen to him. But Fernandes admits she antagonized him, teasing and tormenting him with texts.
Worcester Superior Court
Peter Van Sant (hands photo to Stephanie): You seem happy in that picture. What went wrong?
Stephanie Fernandes: Severe jealousy.
But Stephanie admits it wasn’t just Andy. Sometimes she antagonized him, teasing and tormenting him with texts.
Peter Van Sant: They’re pretty vicious.
Stephanie Fernandes: Yeah.
Peter Van Sant: You admit that, right?
Stephanie Fernandes: I do. It’s embarrassing.
Van Sant asked Stephanie to read a few.
StephanieFernandes: “I’m gonna F your best friend.” “You should kill yourself.” “Hope a car falls on you.”
StephanieFernandes: I admit I’m flawed. … Yeah, I can get upset.
She says Andrew would get upset too — especially when she wore outfits that might make her attractive to other men.
Stephanie Fernandes: He’s freaked out over … the tank top that I was wearing, grabbed me, and then threw me on my bed in the room, and tore it off. Took out his gun, made sure I knew there was bullets it in, and jammed it down my throat.
Peter Van Sant: Did he threaten to kill you? Did he threaten to pull the trigger?
Stephanie Fernandes: If I — during that time — it was if I didn’t listen to him, yes that he was gonna kill me.
Angelina Fernandes: When he was mad, he’d turn into a different person. His whole face would get red. His pupils would dilate. It was like possession of demonic entity.
Angelina recalls seeing Andrew trying to headbutt her mother.
Angelina Fernandes: He’d go like — like that (demonstrating a headbutt).
Peter Van Sant: Would he bump her? When he headbutt –
Angelina Fernandes: No.
Peter Van Sant: — would he literally make contact?
Angelina Fernandes: No.
Peter Van Sant: But it would go right up in her face?
Angelina Fernandes: Yeah.
Peter Van Sant: And –
Angelina Fernandes: Yeah.
Peter Van Sant: And she called that a headbutt, right?
Angelina Fernandes: Yeah.
Peter Van Sant: And did that bother her
Angelina Fernandes: Mm-hmm (affirms).
By early 2013 Stephanie decided she and Angelina needed a change. She left Andrew and began a new relationship with an old boyfriend, Mike Laramee.
Stephanie Fernandes: I left Andy to get away from the abuse and a number of things.
By early 2013 Stephanie Fernandes left Andrew Wagner and began a new relationship with an old boyfriend, Mike Laramee.
Worcester Superior Court/Rena Johnson
Stephanie says both men knew about each other.
StephanieFernandes: What I did with Andy, Mike knew about. What I did with Mike, Andy knew about.
She says Mike treated her very well.
Stephanie Fernandes: He spoiled me in every way. … He would carry me into bed if I fell asleep on the couch.
And just months after they got back together, Mike proposed, and Stephanie accepted.
Stephanie Fernandes: Mike brought me to Niagara Falls. … he did take out … the ring and
asked if I would marry him. … And I did wear the ring.
Peter Van Sant: Both men knew that you were engaged to the other man?
Stephanie Fernandes: Yes.
About a month later, Laramee says he broke off the engagement. Stephanie got back together with Andy, but she says it was more out of fear than love.
Stephanie Fernandes: If I didn’t go back with Andy … he woulda killed Mike or definitely myself if I didn’t go back with him. He never woulda let me live.
Once Stephanie was back, she says the cycle of abuse resumed. Just three days before his death, Andy texted her.
Peter Van Sant: He said, “I’m going to f****** kill you.” Do you remember him texting that to you?
Stephanie Fernandes: I remember him texting that, saying that all the time.
Then, on the night of May 7, 2014, everything exploded.
Angelina was upstairs in bed. Stephanie says she was in the kitchen preparing dinner when Andy started an argument about what she’d been doing that week while he was away at work.
Stephanie Fernandes: That’s what started … the questions … what have I been doing all week, things like that — just escalated.
She says Andy wanted to have sex. Stephanie didn’t.
Stephanie Fernandes: He was punchin’ me in the head. Tryin’ to pin me down. Tryin’ to remove my pants.
Then, she says, he pulled out a gun and tried to pin her against the couch.
Stephanie Fernandes: I was in fear of my life. I was trying to get away.
On May 7, 2014, Andrew Wagner and Stephanie Fernandes got into another altercation. This time, only one of them would survive. An autopsy report would later reveal that Wagner died from a stab wound to the neck.
Worcester Superior Court
Stephanie says she grabbed a knife to scare him. What unfolded would soon end one life and destroy another.
Stephanie Fernandes: It just was so quick. He just charged at me, went to headbutt me, as he always would do.
Stephanie Fernandes says the night Andrew Wagner died, he pinned her to her a couch and tried to choke her. Fernandes grabbed a knife from the kitchen and says Wagner tried to headbutt her as she held the knife in her right hand. Using a pen, she demonstrated to “48 Hours” how she held the knife.
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Peter Van Sant: How are you holding the knife?
Stephanie Fernandes (holds a pen to demonstrate): Like this.
Peter Van Sant: Show me. So, you have it up. And he’s coming at you, right?
Stephanie Fernandes: Yeah.
Peter Van Sant: And what happens?
Stephanie Fernandes: That’s when I’m like, “Stay away from me, stay away from me” as he’s screaming, “I’m gonna f****** kill you.” He’s on the other side. And he goes to grab my hand. … and it must have nicked his neck, the one-and-a-half- or two-and-a-half-inch, whatever it was.
Peter Van Sant: You held the knife that cut your fiancé’s artery and he bled to death. And people would think, well, you murdered him.
Stephanie Fernandes: My actions led to him dying. They did. But I didn’t make a decision to take his life. I did not want that to happen but if it wasn’t him, that would have been me in the ground.
WHAT HAPPENED THE NIGHT OF MAY 7, 2014?
As Stephanie Fernandes’ trial finally approached, her legal team prepared her defense.
Maura Tansley: Domestic violence or intimate partner violence was central to the entire case.
Maura Tansley was one of Fernandes’ attorneys.
Maura Tansley: It set up the nature of the relationship between these two people and I think raised questions about what happened … that night that Mr. Wagner died.
The trial had been delayed by procedural arguments, and then the COVID pandemic.
Stephanie had spent those years in home custody, wearing an ankle bracelet. In June 2022, eight years after Andrew Wagner was killed, the murder trial of Stephanie Fernandes finally began.
Andrew Wagner’s family was there. His mother Melissa, his father Tom, and his sister Jillian Cristaldi. They declined “48 Hours”‘ request for an interview. Surrounded by supporters, they were hoping that by the end of this trial, Fernandes would be behind bars.
In his opening statement, prosecutor Terry McLaughlin said Stephanie Fernandes stabbed her fiancé, Andrew Wagner, in the neck, cutting an artery and killing him. McLaughlin says that Stephanie told different stories about what exactly happened that night. She said, “He was waving a gun around, so I stabbed him.” And to a neighbor she said, “He hit me, so I hit him.” And McLaughlin said Stephanie had fits of rage and that she was the aggressor.
Angelina Fernandes recalls seeing her mother in distress, her mother’s fiancé, Andrew Wagner, on the floor, and blood everywhere.
Worcester Superior Court
Lead defense attorney Peter Ettenberg told jurors that Andrew Wagner was quote “189 pounds of fury and frustration” who violently came at Stephanie and said, “I’m going to kill you.” Ettenberg says Stephanie thought she would be killed, so she acted to protect herself.
Peter Ettenberg: We believe that when he grabbed her hands and went to go and headbutt her, he pulled and that pulled the knife into his neck.
But prosecutors presented witnesses who testified Stephanie has a long history of violent outbursts.
ASSISTANT DA JULIEANNE KARCASINAS: How many times did you see Ms. Fernandes strike Mr. Wagner?
DANIEL DISTEFANO: Multiple times, ma’am.
Daniel DiStefano was a friend of Wagner’s and a former police officer. He says he saw Fernandes hit Andy at a wedding reception back in 2010.
JULIEANNE KARCASINAS: And can you please tell the court where Ms. Fernandes hit Mr. Wagner?
DANIEL DISTEFANO: She very precisely struck him in the face and the head with a closed fist.
Peter Van Sant: Do you admit that, at times, you have hit men in your life with a closed fist?
Stephanie Fernandes: Hit?
Peter Van Sant: Hit them.
Stephanie Fernandes: No, I hit, well, yeah, I hit Andy once. … He punched me in the head I punched him back.
And Stephanie’s former fiancé, Mike Laramee, testified. He told the court that Stephanie pulled a knife on him at his home. This is audio of Laramee’s testimony.
MIKE LARAMEE: All of a sudden, I heard a ching of a knife coming out of the butcher block. And I came inside, and I hit it out of her hand.
And there was another knife incident.
MIKE LARAMEE: She went to my dining room table. And she was gonna carve it up. And I was afraid for my life. I grabbed a chair. And I wasn’t gonna let her come near me with it. … And she stabbed the chair with it like three or four times.
JULIEANNE KARCASINAS: After this happened, what, if anything, did you do?
MIKE LARAMEE: I grabbed all the knives. And I got rid of ’em.
“My actions led to him dying. They did. But I didn’t make a decision to take his life. I did not want that to happen but if it wasn’t him, that would have been me in the ground,” Stephanie Fernandes told “48 Hours” correspondent Peter Van Sant of Andrew Wagner.
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Stephanie Fernandes: The things, that, like, Mike Laramee said are not true.
Peter Van Sant: You never came after Michael Laramee with a knife in your hand?
Stephanie Fernandes: I never did.
Peter Van Sant: You never damaged his furniture with a knife?
Stephanie Fernandes: No. I did not.
As Stephanie’s defense began, they called an unusual witness.
OFFICER PERO: My name is William Pero … I’m a Worcester police sergeant
The detective who interviewed her the night Andrew died. The defense showed the jury that police video — a video the prosecutors had decided not to show. In that interview, Detective Pero points out Stephanie’s bruises.
OFFICER PERO (police video): I look at the bruises on you, OK? And they’re not old —
STEPHANIE FERNANDES (sitting on floor crying): Please tell me he’s OK —
OFFICER PERO: — and they’re not old bruises. I mean, they’re fresh.
Maura Tansley: The fact that there are fresh bruises on her … that’s consistent with how she described Andrew Wagner grabbing her and coming towards her, I don’t know what else … would be better to lay the foundation that she was acting in self-defense.
OFFICER PERO (police video): You have bruises on your face, on your arm, on your body. … I can see them, Steph.
Prosecutors show Pero photos taken that night. He says he sees a bruise on her arm, but not on Stephanie’s face.
TERRY MCLAUGHLIN (showing pictures) And do you see any injuries to the defendant’s face in this photograph?
PETER ETTENBERG: Objection judge.
JUDGE: Overruled.
OFFICER PERO: I do not.
TERRY MCLAUGHLIN: And do you see any injuries to the face of the defendant in this photograph?
OFFICER PERO: I do not.
The prosecutor suggests that during that interview he may have been playing Stephanie.
TERRY MCLAUGHLIN: Some of your questions or comments are designed to get the person you are interviewing to drop their guard and or talk to you, correct?
OFFICER PERO: To show empathy and to, to relate to me.
PROSECUTOR: You want them to start talking, correct?
OFFICER PERO: I do.
Two people fought that night back in 2014 and only one survived. The defense decided they had no choice but to put Stephanie on the stand.
Her defense attorneys walked her through the hours leading up to Andy’s death.
STEPHANIE FERNANDES: We tried bein’ intimate.
DEFENSE ATTORNEY MAURA TANSLEY: That morning?
STEPHANIE FERNANDES: Yes.
MAURA TANSLEY: OK. And did it happen?
STEPHANIE FERNANDES: No.
She says Andy became angry when she made fun of him.
STEPHANIE FERNANDES: I made the comment as I got outta bed, walkin’ into my bathroom. And he came in there and smacked me a few times.
In June 2022, the murder trial of Stephanie Fernandes began. It had been delayed by procedural arguments and the COVID pandemic. While she awaited trial, Fernandes was on house arrest with a GPS monitor.
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Later that evening, with Angelina upstairs in bed, Stephanie says Andy with a gun in hand, attacked her.
STEPHANIE FERNANDES: Hit me in the head with the gun. Choked me. And he wanted … sex. Somehow, we were on the floor, and I was cryin’ and … I ended up gettin’ away … and I ran screaming and away, like, “Don’t come near me. Don’t come near me.” And he was screamin’, “I’m gonna kill you, you f*****’ bitch.” When I ran and I kept on sayin’, “Don’t come near me. Don’t come near me,” I— I—
DEFENSE ATTORNEY MAURA TANSLEY: Did he, did he listen to you when you said that? Or did he keep coming near you?
STEPHANIE FERNANDES (crying): It happened so quick where I ran to the kitchen … I picked up a knife and held it and said, “Don’t” like, screaming, anyways, the whole time, “Don’t come near me. Don’t come near me.” Andy, um, ran right to me and said, “Give me the knife, you f*****’ bitch”, and put his hand on my throat, and grabbed my hand, and went to headbutt me … and he went, “Steph, I think I got stabbed.”I just stood there I was in shock. I— we — I think we both were in shock.
THE CASE AGAINST STEPHANIE FERNANDES
After Stephanie Fernandes took the stand and told herversion of events,the prosecutors got their turn to challenge her as Assistant DA Julieanne Karcasinas zeroed in on Stephanie’s history with men.
ASSISTANT DA JULIEANNE KARCASINAS: You claim that you were a loyal woman. Isn’t that correct?
STEPHANIE FERNANDES: Correct.
JULIEANNE KARCASINAS: Now were you loyal to Andy when you cheated on him with Mike?
STEPHANIE FERNANDES: I don’t –
JULIEANNE KARCASINAS: Yes, or no?
STEPHANIE FERNANDES: I didn’t cheat on him.
Mike was Mike Laramee.
JULIEANNE KARCASINAS: Now July 26th, 2013, you were in Niagara Falls. Isn’t that correct?
STEPHANIE FERNANDES: Correct.
JULIEANNE KARCASINAS: And you accept a $44,000 engagement ring from Mr. Laramee while on that trip. Isn’t that correct?
STEPHANIE FERNANDES: That is correct. … I put it on my finger, yes.
JULIEANNE KARCASINAS: Do you get engaged to all your guy friends?
STEPHANIE FERNANDES: No.
On Stephanie’s second day on the stand, the prosecutor tried to pick apart her account of the day Andy died.
JULIEANNE KARCASINAS: Ms. Fernandes, how many times did Andy choke you that day on May 7th, 2014?
STEPHANIE FERNANDES: That day?
JULIEANNE KARCASINAS: Yes.
STEPHANIE FERNANDES: In the, in the morning and … at the nighttime of the event.
JULIEANNE KARCASINAS: And then how long did he choke you for that morning?
STEPHANIE FERNANDES: I’m not sure. I didn’t count. I’m not sure. It was quick.
JULIEANNE KARCASINAS: And you had no marks on your neck?
STEPHANIE FERNANDES: I don’t remember.
Stephanie had described a struggle around the couch in the house that night. But the Assistant DA says the crime scene pictures don’t show any sign of that.
STEPHANIE FERNANDES: The coffee table was in front of the couch on then —
JULIANNE KARCASINAS: Yes.
STEPHANIE FERNANDES: — at our house, yes.
JULIEANNE KARCASINAS: Yes, and it’s not pushed out of the way, correct?
STEPHANIE FERNANDES: I can’t tell with that couch and how close the couch and coffee table is, but it does not look crooked.
JULIEANNE KARCASINAS: Correct, it’s not pushed to the side or anything like that.
JULIEANNE KARCASINAS: How was he choking you on the couch?
STEPHANIE FERNANDES: At one – it — all happened so quick.
And Karcasinas tries to cast doubt on Fernandes’ recollection of the night.
JULIEANNE KARCASINAS: So, you do not have a memory of certain parts of that evening, isn’t that correct?
STEPHANIE FERNANDES: I would say that’s correct, like, the time and stuff like that.
And finally, Karcasinas questioned Stephanie’s credibility, especially her claims that she had lived her life in fear of Andy Wagner.
JULIEANNE KARCASINAS: Were you afraid of Andy Wagner when you told him he was stupid?
STEPHANIE FERNANDES: Yes.
JULIANNE KARCASINAS: Were you in fear of Mr. Wagner when you said to him, “I hope a car falls on you”?
STEPHANIE FERNANDES: No.
JULIEANNE KARCASINAS: And were you in fear of Mr. Wagner when you sent him a photograph … of yourself performing … sex on Michael Laramee? Yes or no, ma’am?
STEPHANIE FERNANDES: No.
JULIEANNE KARCASINAS: No further questions, Your Honor.
STEPHANIE FERNANDES: Thank you.
JUDGE: Alright.
Both sides called in domestic violence experts who interviewed Stephanie. Carol Ball testified for the defense saying that Andrew Wagner’s escalating verbal threats and physical violence left Stephanie with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.
CAROL BALL: My opinion is that she experiences the symptoms of battered woman syndrome also known as intimate partner violence. … That cycle repeats itself over and over.
And prosecutors called up their expert, David Adams, who concluded that Andrew — not
Stephanie — was the victim of abuse.
DAVID ADAMS: Well, I — I actually didn’t see any evidence that she was fearful of him.
Maura Tansley: I think this case raises some interesting questions about what it means to be a victim. Stephanie is not a sympathetic victim, right. … she is a flawed person and yet she is still a victim and still has a right to act in self-defense. … it’s much easier for us to understand someone as a victim of domestic violence where they have a perfect past, where there’s no other anger issues or anything else, but that’s not what we have.
The defense believes that this case will ultimately come down to whether jurors believe Stephanie intentionally murdered Andrew Wagner. A medical examiner who testified couldn’t say for sure.
Peter Ettenberg: He couldn’t rule out the fact that this was an accident.
And after 10 days of witnesses, the defense presented their closing arguments.
DEFENSE ATTORNEY PETER ETTENBERG: She picked up a knife and said, “Andy, stay away. Stay away.” He didn’t. This time for whatever reason it was too much. And the prosecution hasn’t proved that this wasn’t an accident. And they have not proved that it wasn’t in self-defense. … What the prosecution hasn’t proved is that Stephanie Fernandes is a murderer.
Prosecutor Terry McLaughlin disagreed.
ASSISTANT DA TERRY MCLAUGHLIN: She’s the aggressor. She’s the one with the temper. She’s the one with the mouth. … Ladies and gentlemen, I would suggest to you that this is first-degree murder. Premeditated and planned.
TERRY MCLAUGHLIN: She got him from the side, or she got him from the back from behind. … She grabs the knife, and she stabs him when he’s not lookin’ or he’s not ready for it.
With that argument, the case would go to the jurors.
SELF-DEFENSE, ACCIDENT OR MURDER?
If convicted of first-degree murder, Stephanie Fernandes could face life in prison.
Peter Van Sant: But the question is, did you murder him?
Stephanie Fernandes: No. … It makes me nauseous just to even think of that.
After about 9 hours of deliberation, jurors reached their verdict: guilty of a lesser charge — voluntary manslaughter — which carries the possibility of up to 20 years in prison. Shane Bernard and Gayla Bieksha sat on the jury.
Shane Bernard: I think they’re both – that both of them are equally controlling and abusive to each other, you know.
Gayla Bieksha: I agree.
Gayla Bieksha: I think they were both in this vicious cycle that just, they couldn’t stop themselves.
Shane Bernard: He was a more physical abuser where she was more psychological abuse.
Gayla Bieksha: I do believe she didn’t want to kill him, but she did.
As for Fernandes’ claims of self-defense, juror Gayla Bieksha believes Wagner made contact with the knife when Stephanie says he attempted to headbutt her.
Gayla Bieksha: The headbutt was a huge piece for us.
Shane Bernard: Yeah, right.
Gayla Bieksha: We … went off the medical examiner’s report saying that the knife went in from the front. The angle was in from the front and downward.
Shane Bernard: And that she had actually had a stabbing motion. So that, that in a sense, was what ruled out self-defense.
Before sentencing, Andrew Wagner’s family finally got to speak directly to the woman they believe murdered their son and brother.
JILLIAN CRISTALDI: My name is Jillian Cristaldi. I am the sister of Andrew.
My parents and I have waited to speak, to have a voice, to give my brother a voice, and to get him the justice that he deserves, to clear his name from the blatant lies that have been spewed from Stephanie Fernandes and her attorneys’ mouths for over eight years.
When you look at Stephanie Fernandes, you are looking at a face of evil, of someone who gives no consideration for her actions, who is incapable of love, and has shown no remorse or guilt for killing my brother.
Andrew Wagner’s mother, Melissa Wagner, pictured with her husband and daughter, addressed the court at Fernandes’ sentencing. She said that Stephanie took everything from her son, and justice needed to be served
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Andrew’s mother Melissa Wagner.
MELISSA WAGNER: She took away Andrew’s joy and love of life. She took away all of Andrew’s family and friends. She took away Andrew’s dreams of a family of his own. She took away all of Andrew’s money. She took away Andrew’s dignity and self-respect. And when there was nothing, nothing, nothing left for her to take, she took away Andrew’s life. …I beg you Judge Reardon, and I beg you, I beg you, I beg you, take away the one thing that matters most to her. Take away her freedom for as long as possible. Please, please, please. Thank you.
JUDGE REARDON: I realize that no sentence I impose in this case can do perfect justice.
Judge James Reardon reminds everyone that Stephanie Fernandes was found guilty not of murder, but of voluntary manslaughter.
JUDGE REARDON: Ms. Fernandes is being sentenced for that conviction. Not for her relationship with Andrew Wagner or any other individuals or for her past life.
JUDGE REARDON: I sentence Stephanie Fernandes to a term of not more than 10 years and not less than eight years in state prison.
Peter Van Sant: After all this … According to what you have said, Andrew struck you, chocked you, threatened you with a pistol … do you still have some sort of emotion for this man? Some sort of love for this man?
Stephanie Fernandes: I do. I know it bothers a lotta people. I will always love him.
Stephanie Fernandes says she will always love Andrew Wagner.
Maura Tansley/Defense team
Stephanie says the night Andy died could have been avoided.
Stephanie Fernandes: Maybe the night wouldn’t have happened if I’d got him help. If I got us counselin’, if I got him therapy.
Peter Van Sant: Angelina, why did this happen?
Angelina Fernandes: Because he was abusive, and my mom was his victim.
Peter Van Sant: But his family blames your mother for that.
Angelina Fernandes: They’re going to believe what they want to believe. … I can’t imagine the pain they’re going through. I don’t think they want to see their deceased son that way. … So, they’re trying to blame my mom for all of the wrong he did towards her.
Angelina is now studying to become a forensic psychologist and she hopes to work with victims in court and with children. Angelina says she looks forward to the day she’ll be able to reunite with her mom.
Angelina looks forward to the day she’ll be able to reunite with her mom.
Angelina Fernandes/Instagram
Angelina Fernandes: When she’s out of jail, she’ll be able to see all of my successes and she’ll be able to see everything that I’ve accomplished. … I want to accomplish all of my dreams so my mom can experience the happiness afterwards.
Stephanie Fernandes’ trial lawyers say she may be eligible for parole as early as 2026.
Produced by Chuck Stevenson. Hannah Vair is the field producer. Ryan Smith and Tamara Weitzman are the development producers. Annabelle Allen is the broadcast associate. Greg Kaplan, Michelle Harris, and Grayce Arlotta Berner are the editors. Anthony Batson is the senior broadcast producer. Nancy Kramer is the executive story editor. Judy Tygard is the executive producer.
A young girl peeks out of her bedroom to see blood on the floor and her mother in distress. As an adult she looks back on a night that changed her life. “48 Hours” correspondent Peter Van Sant reports.
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A 21-year-old man Friday pleaded not guilty to murder and attempted murder charges in connection with three stabbing attacks, two of which were fatal, that occurred near the campus of the University of California, Davis.
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Police bodycam video released this week shows Bryan Kohberger, the suspect in the stabbing deaths of four University of Idaho students, talking his way out of a ticket during a traffic stop in October, several weeks for the slayings.
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A young girl peeks out of her bedroom to see blood on the floor and her mother in distress. As an adult she looks back on a night that changed her life. “48 Hours” correspondent Peter Van Sant reports.
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