FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Thursday, September 29, 2016
Brownsville Woman Convicted of
Stabbing Boyfriend Following Argument
Victim Died of Stab Wound to Heart
Brooklyn District Attorney Ken Thompson today announced that a Brownsville woman has been convicted of first-degree manslaughter for fatally stabbing her live-in boyfriend.
District Attorney Thompson said, “This defendant made a terrible decision when she answered the door for her boyfriend armed with a knife, escalating a volatile situation and killing a man for whom she once cared. I thank the hardworking prosecutors in my Domestic Violence Bureau for their commitment to taking seriously all forms of intimate partner violence and holding offenders accountable.”
The District Attorney identified the defendant as Latrina Crocker, 48, of Brownsville, Brooklyn. She was convicted today of first-degree manslaughter following a jury trial before Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice Ruth Shillingford. The defendant faces up to 25 years in prison when sentenced on October 21, 2016.
The District Attorney said that, according to trial testimony, on February 23, 2014 at approximately 1:50 a.m., the defendant and the victim, Michael Artist, 52, were engaged in a verbal argument inside their shared apartment. As the dispute ended, the victim left the apartment returning a short while later requesting that the defendant open the apartment door. The defendant opened the door with a knife in her hand, continued to argue, and then stabbed the victim in the arm and chest. Afterwards, the defendant dragged the victim’s body into the hallway before calling 911.
The victim died as a result of a stab wound to the heart, according the Office of the Medical Examiner.
During the investigation, the defendant admitted to stabbing the victim and informed police officers that she threw the murder weapon out of her apartment window. The knife was recovered from that location and DNA analysis confirmed evidence of the victim’s blood on the recovered knife.
The case was prosecuted by Senior Assistant District Attorney Joan Erskine and Assistant District Attorney Jorge Sastoque, of the District Attorney’s Domestic Violence Bureau, under the supervision of Assistant District Attorney Michelle Kaminsky, Chief.
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