By VICKIE JAMBON

Staff Reporter

LAPLACE – A 34-year-old LaPlace woman was charged with second-degree murder Sunday night after she allegedly stabbed her live-in boyfriend in the kitchen of their 155 Riverview Court mobile home.

Gidget D. James told authorities with the St. John the Baptist Sheriff’s Office she stabbed Darrell Sullivan in the chest because he was choking her, said Public Information Officer Sgt. Dane Clement.

James told authorities she and Sullivan arrived home at 10:15 p.m. after visiting a friend in Norco. She said Sullivan had been drinking and that he told her to stop talking on a cell phone. James told authorities Sullivan started choking her after she refused to stop talking on the phone.

James told authorities she grabbed the kitchen knife in an attempt to scare off Sullivan. Instead, she stabbed Sullivan in the chest, said Clement. Pulling the knife from Sullivan’s chest, James said she washed the utensil in the kitchen sink.

James went down the street to seek the help of a neighbor, said Clement.

The neighbor called the Sheriff’s Office at 11:35 p.m.

According to Clement, James fled the neighbor’s home in a pick-up truck owned by Sullivan’s father.

At 12:20 p.m., James was apprehended on Bayou Steel Road, near Airline Highway and brought to the Sherman Walker Correctional Facility without further incident.

Clement said authorities arrived at James’ mobile home at 11:36 p.m.

Ambulance personnel arrived at 11:51 p.m. and began checking Sullivan’s vital signs. They determined there were none, said Clement.

Clement said Coroner Dr. Christy Montegut arrived at 12:20 and pronounced Sullivan dead.

Sullivan was sent to the Jefferson Parish Forensic Crime Lab. An autopsy performed Tuesday morning revealed one stab wound in Sullivan’s chest and no defensive wounds, said Clement.

James told authorities that she and Sullivan lived together and that the couple had been having domestic problems for the past three years.

According to Clement, James called authorities on Sept. 25 to report a domestic disturbance. Sullivan was arrested at the home charged with simple battery.