Taunton man sentenced in Fall River court for stabbing, strangling girlfriend

A 52-year-old Taunton man who strangled and stabbed his live-in girlfriend this past March was sentenced to serve four to six years in state prison last week in Fall River Superior Court, Bristol County District Attorney Thomas M. Quinn III announced.

Michael Correia pleaded guilty to indictments charging him with armed assault to murder, assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, and strangulation/suffocation.

On March 2, 2019 at approximately 5 am, a Taunton Police officer was traveling in the area of Colonial Donuts on Broadway when he observed a Chevrolet Impala parked in the middle of the street with both of its back doors open. The officer observed two males outside the vehicle and one of the males was yelling for help. The male yelling for help was pointing at this defendant and yelling, “He stabbed her. He stabbed her. He tried killing her.” The officer looked inside the vehicle and saw the female victim in the rear passenger seat with blood all over her shirt and face. She yelled “He stabbed me” and pointed at the defendant. The defendant, who was shirtless and covered in blood, circled back toward the vehicle and moved toward the officer. The defendant ignored repeated commands to stop and continued to approach the officer, stating, “I don’t care.” The officer was forced to deploy his Taser and the defendant fell to the ground. While on the ground, the defendant yelled and gestured at the victim.

The male who was yelling for help stated that he was driving southbound on Broadway when he noticed the victim on the left side of the street running from the defendant, who had a kitchen knife in his hand. The victim tried to get into his vehicle but was chased around the car by the defendant. At one point, the defendant threw the knife at the victim, but it missed her. He then circled around the car and picked up the knife. By this time, the victim was able to get in the rear passenger seat and attempted to lock the doors but couldn’t do so before the defendant was able to make his way into the rear driver’s seat. The witness told police he then saw the defendant stab the victim in the backseat. The witness heard the defendant state, “I’m going to kill you” and heard the victim respond, “I love you, why are you doing this.” The witness, at this point, struck the defendant twice on the shoulder, knocking the knife out of his hand. The witness then retrieved the knife, but while doing so noticed that the defendant was now strangling the victim. After securing the knife, the witness once again got into the backseat and pulled the defendant off the victim. The defendant then began searching for the knife, at which point the police officer arrived on scene.

After receiving treatment for her injuries, the victim told police that the boyfriend had become enraged because she was receiving Facebook Messenger notifications on her phone. She stated that he began strangling her inside their apartment to the point where she lost consciousness. When she woke up, the defendant was standing over her with a knife and he started to stab her in the back. The defendant then stabbed himself in the neck. The victim then ran out of the apartment for help.

During a sentencing hearing before Judge Raffio Yessayan, Assistant District Attorney Carolyn Morrissette argued that the defendant should serve six to eight-and-a-half years in state prison, to be followed by three years of supervised probation and court-ordered batterers counseling. The defense, however, requested a more lenient two to four year state prison term to be followed by three years of supervised probation. Judge Yessayan sentenced the defendant to serve four to six years in prison, to be followed by five years of supervised probation. The judge also ordered the defendant to undergo batterers counseling.

“This is an outrageous act of domestic violence that resulted in the victim being attacked in an apartment and the back of a vehicle, in the presence of the driver. I commend the driver for coming to the victim’s aid and preventing more serious injuries or death. This defendant clearly presents a danger and needs to be kept off the street,” District Attorney Quinn said.