Bride To Be Kills Groom, Hours Before Wedding
13 Aug, 2012
A 31-year-old bride-to-be was charged with criminal homicide after police say she brutally stabbed her fiancé to death just hours before their wedding.
Na Cola Franklin and her fiancé, 36-year-old Billy Brewster, were planning to get married at 10 a.m. on Saturday, August 11. At some point during the night, Franklin and Brewster began arguing when she allegedly stabbed her fiancé twice with a kitchen knife, according to police.
Court documents state authorities arrived at the couple’s apartment in Whitehall, Pennsylvania shortly after 2 a.m. Police said they found Brewster bleeding from chest wounds on the second floor landing outside the apartment. Additional blood, according to police, was found on the living room carpet.
Police said the victim’s cousin, Nakia Kali, and his wife Monique were inside the apartment when the stabbing occurred along with four children. Monique Kali told authorities Brewster stated he was going out to get food for the group when he and Franklin began to argue.
Kali stated she and her husband were in a bedroom when her husband stepped out to see what was going on. During the argument, Monique Kali told police she heard someone yell “knife,” according to the probable cause statement.
When she opened the door, Kali told police she saw her husband standing between Brewster and Franklin. Kali said she observed Franklin “swinging a knife,” police said in court documents. Afraid her husband would be stabbed, Kali said she tackled Franklin and her husband knocked the knife from Franklin’s hand, according to authorities.
Brewster was able to make his way out of the apartment, and one of the children picked up the knife and brought it to the kitchen, Kali told police.
The victim was transported to the Leigh Valley Hospital where he was pronounced dead less than seven hours before the wedding, police said. The preliminary investigation revealed Brewster suffered two stab wounds to his left torso that resulted in a punctured heart, according to the probable cause statement.
Franklin was arrested and charged with one count of criminal homicide. She is currently being held at the Lehigh County Prison without bail.
During her arraignment hearing, Franklin allegedly told the judge, “I did not mean to kill him on purpose,” the New York Daily News reported. Franklin, who has not been assigned an attorney yet, was unable to be reached for a comment.
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