A man died after being stabbed at a Houston apartment complex late Wednesday, and his girlfriend was taken into custody after making suicidal statements to her mother by phone. Police say officers had previously responded to the same unit for domestic violence calls before the fatal encounter.
The stabbing happened shortly before 10 p.m. Wednesday at an apartment complex in the 1500 block of Oliver Street, according to Click2Houston. The address sits in the 1500 block of Oliver Street, just north of Washington Avenue at Sawyer Street, as reported by FOX 26 Houston. The woman lived at the apartment, and her boyfriend often stayed there, per the station's report.
Both the man and woman, described as in their mid-20s, sustained knife wounds during the encounter. The man suffered a large knife wound to his shoulder and made it out of the apartment into the parking garage before he was found, according to police cited by the same account. He was taken to the hospital, where he later died. The woman, who sustained a cut to her wrist, was also taken to the hospital and is expected to survive.
A Timeline Built From Bar Visits and a Late-Night Argument
Investigators say the woman had returned home from a bar earlier Wednesday, according to Click2Houston. She and her boyfriend got into a disagreement that escalated into the stabbing, per the same outlet's reporting.
After the man fled, the woman remained inside the apartment and made suicidal statements to her mother over the phone, Click2Houston reported. She was taken into custody.
Police Say It's Unclear Who Was Wielding the Knife
Houston police have stopped short of naming a suspect or a victim in the case. Lieutenant Willkens told reporters at the scene that investigators could not immediately determine who was the suspect and who was the victim, emphasizing that substantial investigation would be needed to establish who wielded the knife, according to KHOU. Police are working to piece together what happened and are investigating what transpired between the couple, per FOX 26 Houston.
The uncertainty is compounded by the fact that both people were injured with a knife and that officers had been called to the same address before. Houston police had previously responded to 1520 Oliver Street for domestic violence calls prior to Wednesday's fatal incident, Click2Houston reported, a detail investigators are likely to weigh as they sort out who was the aggressor.
Texas Self-Defense Law Could Shape Any Charges
Any potential charges will likely turn in part on Texas's self-defense standard. Under Texas Penal Code Section 9.32, a person is legally justified in using deadly force if they reasonably believe it is immediately necessary to protect against another person's use or attempted use of unlawful deadly force. They have no duty to retreat if they are somewhere they have a legal right to be, have not provoked the other person, and are not engaged in criminal activity, according to Justia. With both the man and woman having sustained wounds, establishing who acted in self-defense, if anyone, is expected to hinge on physical evidence and any available recordings.
Part of a Broader Rise in Houston Family Violence Deaths
The stabbing adds to a troubling pattern tracked by Houston police in recent years. Intimate partner and family violence was linked to nearly 25 percent of all homicide investigations conducted by the Houston Police Department in 2024, up from 18 percent in 2023, according to the Houston Chronicle. That increase came even as the city's overall homicide count declined, the paper reported.
In response to the trend, Houston Police Chief Noe Diaz made establishing a dedicated Family Violence Division one of his first moves after taking over on August 14 — the department's first new division since 2018 — to focus specifically on domestic abuse investigations, per the Chronicle's reporting. Statewide, the pattern is similarly stark: a report from the Texas Council on Family Violence documented a 34 percent increase in domestic violence-related homicides across Texas between 2023 and 2024, according to KHOU.
Neither the man nor the woman had been publicly identified by authorities as of the latest reporting. Police continue to investigate what transpired inside the Oliver Street apartment and who was holding the knife when the fatal wound was inflicted.
