Waseca woman charged with attempted murder

A Waseca woman has been charged with attempted murder after allegedly stabbing her boyfriend in the chest.

A criminal complaint filed last week in Steele County Court says  Tierrah Vachon Lee Wells, 34, stabbed Charles Ellis, 41, twice in his Owatonna apartment while his roommates and her children watched.

Ellis was airlifted to St. Mary’s Hospital in Rochester with a puncture wound after the stabbing, according to court documents.

Roommates told police Wells and her children came to their apartment and left with Ellis for a couple of hours.  When they returned, they began drinking and arguing about their relationship, says the complaint.

One of the roommates told police the stabbing occurred after the fight escalated.  Ellis was apparently trying to prevent Wells from leaving because she had been drinking.  That’s when Wells grabbed the knife, said the roommate, who claims he tried to get the knife from Wells.

Ellis’ roommates were in the living room talking when Ellis came out of the kitchen saying “she stabbed me,” and holding his chest, says the complaint.  Wells gathered up her children and left the apartment at that time, according to the complaint.  The roommates told investigators Wells took the knife with her.

Wells was detained later that same day during a traffic stop in Waseca.  Her children were interviewed by a social worker.  One of the children disclosed that his dad had been bleeding because his mother had poked his father twice with a knife.

Wells initially denied any involvement in the Owatonna stabbing incident.  She claimed she had been in Peoria, Illinois for the past week and returned the night before her interview, says the complaint.  Wells said Ellis had asked her to come over and do his hair, but she declined.

In a follow-up interview, police told Wells that Ellis’ roommates had identified her as the stabber.  She then told police that she had been with Ellis in Owatonna that evening, but they began to argue because he wanted to use her truck after he’d been drinking.  Wells said Ellis was trying to prevent her from leaving, so she got her children and drove to a friend’s house in New Prague.

Police says Wells changed her statement and timeline after she was confronted with surveillance evidence.

Wells has been charged with second-degree attempted murder and first-degree assault.