Protection lawyer says Woodbury man killed spouse however did not plan to

Shevon Phillips beloved cooking and listening to music. She was a mom, daughter and sister.

Protection lawyer says Woodbury man killed spouse however did not plan to
McKinley Phillips (Courtesy of the Monroe, Wis., County Jail)

“She didn’t need to die within the method that (her husband) selected for her that day,” Assistant Washington County Lawyer Tom Frenette informed jurors Monday throughout opening statements within the homicide trial of McKinley Phillips. “You’re right here at present as a result of that man … killed his spouse by stabbing her 27 instances within the basement of their residence.”

Phillips, 40, faces a compulsory life sentence if convicted of first-degree homicide within the June 2021 loss of life of his 42-year-old spouse.

His lawyer says Phillips killed the girl however that he didn’t plan to, so a lesser cost of second-degree homicide is extra acceptable.

Phillips is accused of stabbing his spouse within the basement of their Woodbury residence close to Royal Oaks Elementary College. Six youngsters ages 5 to fifteen have been upstairs watching TV on the time, Frenette stated.

After the stabbing, Phillips rode a Metro Transit bus and prepare to Minneapolis after which bought on a Greyhound bus headed for Chicago. Police discovered Phillips on the bus round 3 a.m. the subsequent day close to Tomah, Wis. by monitoring the placement of his cellphone, Frenette stated.

Web searches that Phillips made on his cellular phone “are a mirror picture of his ideas” earlier than and after the killing, Frenette informed the jury. Among the many searches: How a lot does it price to file for divorce? What is taken into account “homicide” below Minnesota regulation?

On the morning she was killed, Shevon Phillips picked up her husband from his in a single day job at Mystic Lake On line casino and drove them residence, Frenette stated. Again on the home, McKinley Phillips discovered a letter to his spouse from an previous boyfriend, who was at present in jail, in keeping with the prison grievance filed towards him.

Phillips searched the person’s identify on-line, then discovered Shevon Phillips sitting in a chair in a basement TV room and punched her a number of instances within the face, “hitting her so onerous it put her in a daze,” Frenette informed the jury.

Taking out a blue, folding pocketknife, Phillips “selected to flip it open and choose up the knife and produce it down on his spouse’s physique repeatedly,” persevering with to stab her after she fell face down on the ground, Frenette stated.

“He chooses to savagely assault her,” Frenette stated. “He positions himself over her and stabs her a number of instances.”

After the knife both slipped or partially folded into his pinky finger, Phillips bought a second folding knife – a inexperienced one – “and he walks as much as his spouse once more and decides to repeatedly stab her once more,” Frenette stated. “These are his decisions. This all happens whereas six youngsters – ranging in age from 5 to fifteen – are upstairs watching TV.”