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Lydia Bell Photo Credit: THE VIRGIN ISLANDS POLICE DEPARTMENT
ST. THOMAS — A woman who allegedly stabbed a man in the neck multiple times has turned herself in to police.
Court documents allege that Lydia Bell, age 56 stabbed the male victim during an altercation at Oswald Harris Court in February of 2022. The victim reported that he intervened after he found Bell and her daughter involved in an altercation with his girlfriend. According to the man, Bell and her daughter temporarily reside next door to his girlfriend with a neighbor.
He claims that the fight ensued after Bell’s daughter struck his girlfriend and Bell followed suit. He reportedly attempted to separate the fight and observed that Bell and her daughter both held knives. He then retrieved a stick in an attempt to defend his girlfriend and began to swing it in an effort to startle Bell and her daughter. The victim recounted suddenly falling to the ground during the fracas and when he got up he felt blood running down from his neck, at which point he realized he was injured. He then drove himself to the hospital to seek medical attention, receiving 23 stitches for 3 cuts to his neck, according to the probable cause fact sheet.
Police say investigations revealed that the argument started after the victim’s girlfriend offered a visually impaired neighbor a piece of cake and Bell’s daughter slapped it from his hand. The woman became irate and began swearing at Bell’s daughter from her porch, accusing her of taking advantage of the visually impaired neighbor. When police made contact with Bell and her daughter at the hospital, they admitted to being in the fight. Bell stated that she retrieved the knife after she saw the victim swinging a ‘club’ at her daughter.
Police later obtained surveillance footage which showed the victim swinging what appeared to be a broomstick. According to the fact sheet, he was not seen striking anyone with the stick. The fact sheet states that the footage also shows Bell attacking him, stabbing him to the neck multiple times.
On April 9th police issued a wanted poster for Lydia Bell and she subsequently turned herself in on April 12th. She was charged with first-degree assault, disturbance of the peace and using a dangerous weapon during a crime of violence. Unable to post $75,000 bail she was turned over to the Bureau of Corrections.
During a hearing on Wednesday, the bail amount was lowered to $30,000 with no 10 percent provision. Bell is strictly prohibited from returning to Oswald Harris Court and is also required to maintain a minimum distance of 50 feet from the victim at all times.
