BOSTON, Oct. 7, 2016—A New York woman was sent for a competency evaluation following her arraignment today for the fatal stabbing of her husband, 37-year-old Collis Edwards, in a Mission Hill residence, Suffolk County District Attorney Daniel F. Conley said.

KAREN EDWARDS (D.O.B. 2/23/80) of Brooklyn was charged with murder today for the incident just after midnight inside the Wensley Street home where the victim was living with a family member. West Roxbury Municipal Court Judge Kathleen Coffey granted prosecutors’ request that she be held without bail and sent Edwards for a 20-day evaluation at the Solomon Carter Fuller Center.

Assistant District Attorney Amy Galatis told the court that Karen Edwards, Collis Edwards, and two other people were inside the residence when the victim and defendant became involved in a verbal argument. In the course of that argument, Karen Edwards allegedly told her husband that she was going to stab him. She allegedly went into the kitchen, retrieved a large knife, and stabbed the man in the chest. In addition to that fatal injury, he sustained additional minor injuries believed to be defensive wounds.

Collis Edwards ran from the scene and Karen Edwards chased him, Galatis said. A knife was recovered along the path of her flight. Responding emergency medical technicians transported Collis Edwards to the hospital, where he was pronounced dead of his injuries. Boston Police took Karen Edwards into custody and she allegedly made admissions that she had stabbed him. She did not have any injuries, Galatis said.

Conley urged the victims of any crime, including domestic violence, to call 911 in an emergency. SafeLink, a statewide DV hotline, can be reached at 877-785-2020. SafeLink is answered by trained advocates 24 hours a day in English, Spanish, and Portuguese, as well as TTY at 877-521-2601. It also has the capacity to provide multilingual translation in more than 140 languages.

Edwards was represented by attorney Jeff Miller. She will return to court on Oct. 27.

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All defendants are presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.