Police: Man who fatally stabbed girlfriend with screwdriver thought he just poked her
LANSING — A Lansing man charged with fatally stabbing his girlfriend with a screwdriver told police he thought he had just poked her.
Ray Coleman, 55, had been fighting with his girlfriend, Donna Colen Nov.2.
That wasn't out of the ordinary, Lansing Police Detective Jeremy Wonnacott testified at a preliminary hearing Friday to determine if there was enough evidence for Coleman to stand trial on a murder charge. Coleman had told Wonnacott that their 15-month relationship had been wrought with fights from the start.
On Nov. 2, the fight was about a text from Coleman's wife. Coleman told police that Colen found out about the text and got mad, Wonnacott testified. She threatened to lock him out of the house. In return, Coleman said he would take the doorknobs off. He grabbed a screwdriver from the kitchen and began to unscrew the knobs.
Colen threatened to throw hot grease at Coleman if he didn't stop, Wonnacott said. So he stopped briefly, then resumed taking the knob off.
When Colen approached Coleman with the pot of grease, which he told police was left over from cooking fish, Coleman knocked it out of her hands, splattering it everywhere, Wonnacott testified.
Neither got burned by the grease, but a small amount got on Coleman's shirt, Wonnacott said.
Coleman told police that when Colen bent down to pick the pot up, Coleman reached over her back and stabbed her with the screwdriver, Wonnacott testified. After about 30 seconds, she collapsed.
Police later found the screwdriver under a couch cushion, Wonnacott said.
Mark Kamar, Coleman's attorney, argued Friday that it appeared Coleman was acting in self-defense. If a charge was necessary, he said, he thought it should be manslaughter.
"There was some negligence (by Coleman), but there is no evidence of first- or second-degree murder," Kamar said.
After Colen fell, Coleman told police he thought she was pretending to be hurt. He told Wonnacott that he thought he had poked her, and didn't do much damage, Wonnacott testified.
He waited about 20 minutes before he called 911. He told police he had tried to do CPR on Colen, but couldn't because he had the phone in his other hand, Wonnacott testified.
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Coleman initially didn't tell police he had stabbed Colen, Wonnacott said. He said he had punched her, but did not specify where.
It was only about 10 minutes later when he told Officer Anthony VandeVoorde, who had been talking to Coleman outside his house, about the stab wound on Colen's back.
VandeVoorde testified Friday that Coleman was "very calm" when he was speaking to him. Coleman was preoccupied with text messages on his phone, VandeVoorde said.
Wonnacott said the same thing about Coleman's demeanor during his interview with him later in the day. After the interview, Wonnacott checked Coleman for injuries, but did not find any, he testified.
Ingham County 54A District Court Judge Louise Alderson sent Coleman's murder charge over to the circuit court to stand trial. He is set to be arraigned in Circuit Court Jan. 2.
Contact Kara Berg at 517-377-1113 or kberg@lsj.com. Follow her on Twitter @karaberg95.