Man stabbed mother of his kids over breakup, police say. He’s locked up in Broward
A Broward man is behind bars after stabbing the mother of his four kids at a Lauderdale-by-the-Sea parking lot for finding a new partner, police say.
Damion Matthews, 47, was arrested Monday morning and faces an attempted murder charge. He’s being held at the Broward Main Jail without bond.
At around 9:20 p.m. on Sunday, police found a woman “bleeding profusely” with puncture wounds on her neck at 4405 North Ocean Drive in Lauderdale-by-the-Sea. She was transported to Broward Health North with life-threatening injuries, according to an arrest report.
A witness told investigators that he saw a man, later identified as Matthews, standing at the driver’s side door of a Jeep. The man then began to attack a woman who was sitting inside the vehicle.
Several bystanders tried to step in to help the woman, but the man rushed into a black Ford Expedition and fled the scene, the report says. The bystanders then aided the bleeding woman, putting pressure on her wounds until fire rescue arrived.
After the stabbing, Matthews showed up at his friend’s house and said he hurt his ex “badly and hopes that she lives,” according to the report.
That same friend told police that earlier that day, Matthews had said he was going to kill the woman because she “found a new partner” and was moving on, the report says.
After turning himself in at the jail, Matthews agreed to speak to detectives, according to police. Matthews said he met with the mother of his children to eat at Taco Craft, a restaurant across the street from the incident.
When they finished and walked back to their cars, they had an argument about her breaking up with him, the report says. That’s where Matthews ended his detailing of events, refusing to speak to investigators without an attorney present.
A history of domestic violence?
Broward court records show that in October 2014, Matthews was arrested on the charge of aggravated battery against a pregnant woman. However, in 2015, the State Attorney’s Office opted not to proceed with the case.
“Unfortunately, prosecutors were unable to file the 2014 case because the victim declined to go forward with the case and there was insufficient evidence and no likelihood of conviction without her testimony,” said Paula McMahon, spokesperson for the Broward State Attorney’s Office.
According to the arrest report, Matthews punched the hand of the mother of his children, who was at the time 5-months pregnant with their fourth child. Police say the couple had argued over who was going to feed their 2-year-old son. Matthews grew irate after his partner called him an “evil bastard” during the exchange.
It’s unclear if the victim in that case is the same woman from the Sunday incident. But the victim, shortly after Matthews’ October 2014 arrest, filed a domestic violence case against him in Broward family court.
In her petition, she wrote that Matthews had threatened to kill her if she left him. She also said he had previously held a knife to her neck, taped her mouth shut and threatened to hurt their children.
The woman, who stated in the petition that she didn’t have any family living in Florida, voluntarily dismissed the case that same month.
