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Woman says she was inside home when Chesapeake mom was stabbed

Posted at 7:51 PM, Sep 27, 2013
and last updated 2013-09-27 19:51:11-04

Chesapeake, Va. - Krystal Martin, 27, is now behind bars after police say she stabbed her roommate’s daughter to death.

The woman who was killed was 22-year-old Avatiena Wesley.

NewsChannel 3 spoke to Arlesha Morgan, Wesley’s cousin, who says that the two women were like family.

“It is very shocking to know that for her to be as close as she was to Avatiena and have been around her son, we would never expect in a million years that this would have occurred,” says Morgan.

Officers tell NewsChannel 3 that Wesley went over to her mother’s house on Welcome Road.

They say when Wesley arrived, she and Martin started to argue. Investigators say the argument ended with Martin stabbing Wesley in the chest.

Morgan says she was inside of the home when it happened.

She tells NewsChannel 3 that Martin and Wesley’s mother were arguing earlier that day. She says that’s when Avatiena stepped in.

“She approached her to question her, you know I guess she was enraged, and she stabbed her,” Morgan says.

Last night at the scene, detectives looked for clues and they questioned Martin while Wesley’s family watched in tears.

Wesley’s cousins say they considered Martin to be one of the family.

“She was a friend, you know. She was a friend to all of us. She’s not from here so we accepted her as if she was our family. She was our family member,” says Morgan.

Wesley’s family says Martin had a baby boy who recently graduated from Tidewater Community College with a degree in nursing. We requested a jailhouse interview, but she declined.

Related: 

UPDATE: Chesapeake woman charged with first degree murder in stabbing death

Chesapeake police investigate after 22-year-old mom is stabbed to death