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Woman held after allegedly stabbing boyfriend

STEVEN MROSS
The Sentinel-Record

A reportedly intoxicated local woman was arrested Wednesday night after allegedly stabbing her boyfriend during an argument and then crashing her vehicle while driving him to the hospital.
Paula Ann Holman, 41, who lists an address of 143-B Central Terrace, was initially taken into custody around 6:30 p.m. on misdemeanor charges of driving while intoxicated, careless and prohibited driving and no proof of insurance, and about two hours later was charged with a felony count of second-degree domestic battery, punishable by up to 10 years in prison. She was still being held without bond Thursday and is set to appear Dec. 31 in Garland County District Court.
According to the affidavit, shortly after 5:30 p.m., Garland County sheriff’s deputies were dispatched to the area of Higdon Ferry and Twin Points roads to a reported stabbing. Hot Springs police were already on the scene and had identified the victim, David F. Vinson, 60, also of the Central Terrace address.
GCSD investigator Russell Severns and Cpl. Robbie Swinney responded to investigate and upon arrival noted there was a traffic accident, with a silver car facing south on Higdon Ferry just north of Twin Points with “substantial driver’s side damage” and a red Honda Accord missing its front bumper that was resting on the curb perpendicular to the road.
HSPD officers were talking to the driver of the Accord, later identified as Holman, who was sitting on the curb. Swinney went to the LifeNet ambulance already on the scene and spoke to the victim, who was being treated for an approximately 4-inch stab wound to his torso.
Severns spoke to Holman and noted her speech was slurred and her eyes were glassy. He asked her what happened to Vinson, and she claimed Vinson and an unknown male had been arguing at their residence earlier and the man busted out the windshield of Vinson’s car and then stabbed him in the stomach.
She said she was driving Vinson to the hospital when she became distracted, crossed the centerline and struck the silver car.
Severns noted there was blood clearly visible on her left sleeve and blood and what appeared to be fresh abrasions on her hands, indicative of a recent struggle. At that point, Arkansas State Police Trooper Josh Heckel took Holman aside to administer field sobriety tests and later took her into custody for DWI and other traffic charges.
Swinney noted Vinson was being uncooperative at the scene, but told them he would talk to them at the hospital. Swinney then went to the Central Terrace residence where he found Vinson’s car with the windshield broken.
While Holman was still taking the field sobriety tests, Severns was approached by Billie Tucker, 41, who identified herself as Holman’s twin sister. Tucker was “very angry” and stated her husband, Jamie Tucker, 46, had just gone and picked up Holman’s 13-year-old daughter from the Baymont Inn, located near Holman’s residence.
The daughter, who had been left at the Baymont, had told Tucker her mother stabbed Vinson and then left to take Vinson to the hospital. Tucker said the daughter was safe and was welcome to stay at her home.
Severns went to the Central Terrace residence and looked through a front window and states he could see what appeared to be blood on the kitchen floor, so he and Swinney secured the scene.
Shortly after 7 p.m., Severns went to to Mercy Hospital and interviewed Vinson, who stated he and Holman had been arguing over car keys in the kitchen. He said Holman was intoxicated and he had been drinking too, and Holman’s daughter went upstairs to avoid the argument.
At one point during the argument, Holman threatened to break the windows out of his car and then got a baseball bat from the closet and walked outside, returning a few moments later. He said they continued arguing and then Holman came at him with a knife, stabbing him in the stomach.
Vinson said he yelled for Holman’s daughter and she came downstairs. He said Holman wouldn’t call for an ambulance and had deactivated all the cellphones in the house except for hers and wouldn’t let him use it.
He said he was on the floor bleeding for several minutes, and finally he and Holman left in her car and she started driving him to the hospital, leaving her daughter behind.
Around 9 p.m., Severns interviewed Holman’s daughter and she stated Holman and Vinson had been drinking and arguing about car keys and money since they had picked her up earlier in the day from the bus stop, so she had gone upstairs to get away from them.
While upstairs, she states she heard Vinson tell her mother not to get a bat and hit his car. Then she heard her mother yelling that she would and heard a sound like a bat striking a windshield. She said her mother came back inside and they continued to argue.
Then she heard Vinson warn Holman to put the knife down and then heard Vinson yell for her so she ran downstairs and saw Vinson lying on the floor bleeding from his stomach and her mother holding a knife.
She said her mother threw the knife on the counter and then came after her. She states her mother “slung her up the stairs.” She said she tried to call out on her phone, but her mother had suspended the service. She was finally able to use a text-for-free app to contact her cousin and her uncle came and picked her up.