An American woman accidentally stabbed an Eritrean to death during a struggle after he groped her at a German train station – and now faces up to 10 years in prison.
The 20-year-old woman was standing on an escalator at Kaiserslautern train station, in the southwestern state of Rhineland-Palatinate, when the 64-year-old man grabbed her buttocks on June 29.
An argument ensued during which the woman pulled out a pocket knife and made stabbing movements at the man.
The American, who lives in Kaiserslautern, told investigators that she wanted to keep the man at a distance. When he finally backed away, the woman followed.
The Eritrean man grabbed her arm as she held the knife and as the woman tried to free herself, she stabbed him in the heart “during the same movement,” prosecutors said. He died within seconds.
The woman has been charged with causing bodily harm resulting in death and could be sentenced to ten years in prison by the juvenile court.
She claimed she did not intentionally target the man’s heart and argued she acted in self-defense to keep him at bay.
“The Public Prosecution Service does not believe that the stabbing was justified in self-defense,” a spokesperson for the Public Prosecution Service told the German tabloid. Image.
The 20-year-old woman was standing on an escalator at Kaiserslautern train station (near the underpass pictured above), in the southwestern state of Rhineland-Palatinate, when the 64-year-old man grabbed her buttocks on June 29.
Prosecutors believe the woman did not deliberately stab the Eritrean in the heart after viewing CCTV footage. That’s why they didn’t charge her with murder or manslaughter.
She would like to injure the man, but not kill him.
After the incident, a search was launched for the woman, who turned herself in at a police station.
The American has now been released. The juvenile court must decide whether to accept the charges against the woman.