A Gary woman faces charges after stabbing her boyfriend in Lake Station after he was spending the evening with an ex-girlfriend.
Serenity Worthey, 20, was charged Tuesday with murder, aggravated battery, and three counts of domestic battery, court filings show. She is in custody, held without bail.
Lake Station Police said they responded to a call at 1:51 a.m. Sunday regarding a male who was unconscious and not breathing. He was identified as Benard Taylor, 21, of Lake Station.
Taylor died from a stab wound to the chest. His death was ruled a homicide.
Officers responding saw Taylor lying on the ground covered with a baby blanket, the affidavit states. He was bleeding from the upper chest.
Initially, Worthey told police they had a “tumultuous” relationship and shared a one-year-old baby. She said he gave her a black eye in the past and they had called the cops on each other.
She went to Taylor’s father’s apartment that evening for her birthday.
At 1 a.m., Taylor woke her up, telling her that his father was “tripping” and they needed to go. She got the baby, then briefly drove around. When she returned, she saw Taylor go back inside with another woman.
Worthey confronted them. Taylor pulled her downstairs and told her to go home, the affidavit states. She drove off, following him. She denied to police that she later stabbed Taylor.
The other woman told investigators that they dated for about a year and broke up when Taylor and Worthey had a baby.
That evening, she and Taylor texted to hang out. He picked her up around 10:50 p.m. in Portage, but left her in his vehicle for a while when he went back into the apartment.
As Taylor and the woman went upstairs, Worthey confronted them from behind, the affidavit states. He told the other woman to stay inside and went to “calm Serenity down,” records show.
The woman told Taylor to take her home. She noted Worthey drove off first.
At a stoplight, Worthey pulled up near them, before Taylor did a U-turn. When he pulled into a gas station, Worthey arrived, got out and started yelling at him, records state. Taylor told the other woman to stay in his car.
The woman heard “scuffling” and saw Taylor trying to hug Worthey to stop her from hitting him. Then, the woman heard Worthey screaming for her to call 911. She did not see the stabbing.
“I love you, baby daddy,” Worthey screamed.
Everything happened in 3-4 minutes, the woman said.
Police later found a bloody kitchen knife in Worthey’s car.
At the police station, investigators pressed Worthey that more happened than she was admitting. When they returned, she said the stabbing was an accident and didn’t think she did it until Taylor collapsed.
When detectives told her he was dead, she cried hysterically, the affidavit states.
Court records note two prior police calls — in April, Taylor reported to Hobart police that Worthey pepper-sprayed him before he was hit with a car, records state. He didn’t respond to a court victim’s advocate, so prosecutors closed the case.
In May, Worthey called Gary cops, saying she just wanted her keys back, documents show.