Jennifer Ann Monroe appears in a mug shot. (Michigan Department of Corrections)
A Michigan woman was sentenced to a lengthy prison sentence this week for killing her then-partner in 2019. The judge handling the case had harsh and sad words to share with the convicted killer.
Shiawassee 35th County Circuit Court Judge Matthew J. Stewart on Friday called the stabbing murder of 47-year-old Kevin Parker “brutal, shocking and senseless,” according to MLive.
According to the Michigan Department of Corrections, the woman who killed him has “Kevin 5/9/16” tattooed on one of her left fingers.
Ultimately, Jennifer Ann Monroe, 41, was sentenced to 22½ to 67½ years in state prison for the fatal stabbing.
The sentence crowns a long and winding legal process for the accused, who for years had maintained her innocence. She even won an appeal victory ordering the trial court not to admit certain statements she made while in police custody because her initial questioning violated her Miranda rights.
In February, Monroe changed her guilty plea to second-degree murder, leaving her fate in the hands of the judge. She previously faced a charge of open murder, including first degree murder, second degree murder and manslaughter. The plea deal saw that charge dropped and a potentially lighter sentence.
During the sentencing hearing, Stewart chastised the defendant for the profound loss she caused Parker’s loved ones.
“It’s clear from the sentencing papers and from the family members we heard from today, there were a lot of people who loved him,” Stewart said, referring to the deceased interview supervisor. “They wrote and talked extensively about his good qualities. When you killed him, you ended those qualities, you ended everything Mr. Parker was and everything he could be.
On October 16, 2019, at approximately 7:30 p.m., Owosso police were called to a residence on Dewey Street regarding one death and one injury. Parker was stabbed to death. Monroe suffered serious injuries, including cuts to her thighs, chest and neck.
“She received multiple medications, including at least 2 doses of fentanyl within the first two hours of her hospitalization,” the Michigan Court of Appeals noted. “Doctors surgically placed a chest tube to reinflate his collapsed lung. She was transferred to Sparrow Hospital for further treatment, receiving two units of blood while being transported.
The court recounted at length how the ensuing questioning unfolded:
Just two hours after Monroe’s fifth dose of morphine, two detectives questioned her. The interrogation, which lasted two hours, was recorded. Detectives flanked Monroe’s hospital bed, with one sitting beside her and one sitting at the foot of her bed. The recording began with one of the detectives shouting Monroe’s name and appearing to wake her from a sleepy state. During the first 25 minutes of the interrogation, Monroe can be heard moaning, sobbing loudly, coughing and struggling to breathe. At one point, one of the detectives told Monroe that the monitor reflected that her oxygen level was dropping. Monroe was encouraged to keep the nasal cannula in place to maintain a steady flow of oxygen. Just over an hour into the interrogation, a nurse entered the room and interrupted the interrogation to administer medication to Monroe to reduce her pain and “calm down.”
Throughout the interrogation, Monroe repeatedly stated that she did not recall any details of the events or a timeline. Despite her inability to recall the events, detectives continued to press Monroe for details. After nearly two hours of questioning, she replied, “I have never been so unsure of anything in my life. I do not know what to say.
Monroe always planned to claim self-defense at her trial, and her lawyers argued over the use of a domestic violence expert witness just the day before her plea was changed, MLive reported.
“Things escalated, and I grabbed a knife and stabbed him,” she reportedly told the court, estimating three to four stab wounds. “When I did that, I knew there was a chance he could die.”
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