Left: Carmella Motley (Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office). Right: Sebastian King in a 2023 video posted by Second Harvest Food Bank (@2nsharvestnoa/Instagram).
A Louisiana woman allegedly stabbed her husband to death during a drive, then police said she ran him over with their SUV.
Carmella Motley, 65, was charged with second-degree murder after the Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office said she stabbed her husband, 68-year-old Sebastian King, during an “altercation” on Tuesday. According to Sgt. Brandon Veal in an email obtained by local radio station WWL, deputies responded to reports of a vehicle crash at around 10 p.m. and found an unresponsive man with “multiple stab wounds,” later identified as King. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
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Police said that Motley was also present and stated that she was King’s wife. Local ABC affiliate WGNO reported that Motley told police that the two had been fighting while driving through Waggaman, an area in western New Orleans.
New Orleans-based news outlet NOLA.com reported on the alleged incident after the Jefferson Parish Coroner’s Office released King’s identity. According to documents obtained by NOLA.com, detectives believed that King was not only stabbed, but also allegedly hit with a vehicle.
The coroner stated that King’s cause of death was blunt- and sharp-force injuries.
A reason for the altercation that led to the fatal stabbing was not provided by police.
A grandfather of five, King worked as a food delivery driver for Second Harvest Food Bank of Greater New Orleans. One of the churches on his regular stops, God’s House Church in Marrero, Louisiana, will host a “celebration of life” in his honor.
Motley was charged with second-degree murder and booked into the Jefferson Parish Correctional Center on $500,000 bond.
