The Kaiserslautern public prosecutor’s office has filed charges against a 20-year-old American woman accused of fatally stabbing an Eritrean man after an alleged sexual assault. The case has sparked intense debate as prosecutors argue that the stabbing was not justified as self-defense.
The Junge Freiheit news outlet reported that the incident, which took place in June, occurred on an escalator at the main train station in Kaiserslautern where the woman claimed the 64-year-old man groped her buttocks, leading to a heated confrontation.
According to prosecutors, after the initial assault, the woman brandished a folding knife and began making “stabbing movements” to deter her alleged attacker. When the man attempted to grab her arm, she reportedly stabbed him once, inflicting a fatal wound to his heart.
The woman later turned herself in to the authorities, claiming that the fatal stab was accidental and occurred as part of her attempt to defend herself.
Video evidence and witness testimonies confirm the events leading up to the stabbing, and investigators have determined that the woman did not intend to kill the man. As a result, the charges brought against her are for assault resulting in death, rather than murder or manslaughter.
However, prosecutors contend that the act of stabbing was not a proportionate response to the situation. They argue that the woman’s use of a knife escalated the conflict beyond the bounds of self-defense. The public prosecutor’s office emphasized that while the initial groping was a criminal act, the lethal outcome of the confrontation cannot be justified.
“The public prosecutor does not assume that the stabbing was justified by self-defense,” a spokesperson for the office told Bild.
She was initially detained but has since been released from pre-trial detention while awaiting further legal proceedings.
