Police allege a Texas man was killed by his own niece on the day after Christmas following a squabble inside the Fort Worth home the two were living in.
Ashley Siebenaller, 32, allegedly told detectives that it all started when she returned from a doctor’s appointment on December 26 to find her uncle, Tony Vernon Graham, had locked her out of their small home, reports the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.
But the tension continued when Graham, 64, allegedly told his niece she needed to start cooking for him.
Instead, investigators allege that Siebenaller took a knife from the kitchen and stabbed Graham in the chest, the paper reported.
Police said Graham died from the sole stab wound. Police responding to a call about a man who stabbed himself found the uncle dead on the floor in the living room, where both he and Siebenaller slept.
The Star-Telegram report indicated several people were renting space in the house.
When Fort Worth Police Department Homicide Unit Detective Jerry Cedillo tried to speak with Siebenaller about her uncle’s death, she reportedly would not communicate clearly, leading authorities to assume she was nonverbal.
Later, Siebenaller indicated in writing she did not know what happened to Graham and denied having stabbed him, police said.
Another resident of the home, also in writing, told cops that she noticed Siebenaller and Graham arguing shortly before his death.
The resident added that Siebenaller was sitting on a couch and not speaking. The resident wrote that she found a bloody knife on the same couch when she sat down and decided to place the blade on a nearby table.
When investigators tried talking to Siebenaller again on Tuesday, December 30, they said that “Ashley appeared to be able to communicate much more clearly than before.” Again, though, she denied stabbing her uncle. In time, however, police allege she came clean to them and explained why she did it.
Siebenaller allegedly told detectives that she was mad at Graham for locking her out of the house and said Graham “pissed her off” by telling her she needed to start preparing food.
Siebenaller claimed that Graham had stabbed her first in the mouth. But detectives did not notice any injuries to Siebenaller on the day of the killing or during their second interview with her. Siebenaller later admitted to cops she stabbed Graham near the couch and said that he fell down near the living room doorway.
Then, on Saturday, January 2, Fort Worth Police received a message from one of the people who lives in the home with Siebenaller, claiming that the niece was standing outside their bedroom door, holding a knife. The police secured an arrest warrant and decided to handcuff her.
Siebenaller was booked on suspicion of murder on Sunday, January 4, and she is being held without bond at the Tarrant County Jail. She has not been formally charged with a crime, but police have said it is expected she will be charged with her uncle’s murder.
