Stabbing Was Retaliation for Butt Slap, Police Say

Michael Martinez says he knew that his girlfriend had sunburn on her derriere, but “as a joke” he went ahead and slapped her on the posterior as she washed the dishes Monday night.

Her reaction?

”She became immediately agitated” and turned around holding a large steak knife, Martinez told .

After telling her two children to leave the room – they were all in the living room by now -- she stabbed him in the right shoulder, screamed “I’m going to f------ kill you,” then stabbed him again, this time in the right upper back area, court records say.

Tiffany E. Sherry, 24, of 947 Wyandotte St., is facing multiple charges including aggravated assault, a felony. Police say she stabbed Martinez three times in the upper torso area. Martinez was taken for treatment to – the campus is not specified.

A criminal complaint filed by city Officer Timothy J. Cooper tells the following story:

• Cooper responded at 7:47pm to Martinez’s home at 809 Wyandotte St., Apt. 1 – a block or so from Sherry’s home. Martinez was bleeding from his right shoulder and was holding pressure to a wound.
• Martinez told Cooper about Sherry doing the dishes, the sunburn on her derriere and that he slapped her “as a joke.”
• He said that when Sherry turned around holding the large steak knife, he began to back away into the living room. She followed him and leveled the knife toward him.
• “What are you going to do, stab me in front of your children?” he asked Sherry. He said she told the two children to leave the room as she poked Martinez with the knife in his abdomen. He said he felt the pressure from the poke and continued to back away, but she stabbed him in the right shoulder.
• Martinez said he had begun to turn and run away when she threatened to kill him, then she stabbed him in the right upper back. He fled Sherry’s house and returned to his nearby home.
• Cooper said he saw a red blood mark on the right side of Martinez’s abdomen and two distinct cuts to the front and rear of his right shoulder. “These injuries were consistent with how Martinez reported the incident,” the officer said.

In addition to aggravated assault, Sherry was charged with simple assault, terroristic threats, recklessly endangering and harassment. She was arraigned Monday by on-duty District Judge Jackie Taschner of Palmer Township and committed to Northampton County Prison after failing to post $25,000 bail.