A Bronx woman fatally stabbed her boyfriend during a fight over the weekend – then brazenly lied to cops that he was drunk and killed himself by stumbling into a kitchen cabinet, prosecutors say.
Karlene Payne, a 31-year-old medical worker, knifed Joshua Johnson, 36, in the leg as the two fought inside their apartment on Lincoln Avenue near Bruckner Boulevard in Mott Haven around 4:15 a.m. Sunday, police said.
She then “pulled the knife out of the victim’s leg, causing the wound to bleed excessively and fast” — and stashed the weapon in the dishwater while on the phone with 911, a prosecutor said at Payne’s arraignment Monday.
Johnson was rushed to Lincoln Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead.
The couple had friends over before the deadly violence and started fighting once their pals left, Assistant District Attorney Zaid Abdullah said in court.
After Payne knifed her beau, she worsened his condition by pulling out the knife, despite having a medical background, Abdullah said.
Payne called 911 but concocted a story about what happened, claiming that her beau “was drunk and fell into the kitchen cabinet,” according to Abdullah.
She hid the murder weapon in the dishwasher while she was still on the phone with 911, the prosecutor said.
“It was not until hours later that she admitted that she did it and blamed the victim for her actions, admitted that she was not honest at first because she thought that they would both get in trouble,” Abdullah said.
Payne was charged with murder, manslaughter and criminal possession of a weapon, according to her criminal complaint.
Abdullah requested that she be held without bail, a request that was granted by Judge Eugene Bowen.
Her next court appearance is scheduled for Thursday.
