A Parkland woman charged with murder for allegedly stabbing and killing her husband of eight years told investigators she acted in self-defense, court documents show.
Youngmi Shin, 52, was charged Monday in Pierce County Superior Court with two counts of second-degree domestic violence murder for the Nov. 27 death of a 62-year-old man. He has not been publicly identified.
Shin was scheduled to be arraigned on Monday afternoon. She is in custody at the provincial jail.
The victim was described in court documents as the owner and operator of an HVAC business. Shin reportedly told investigators that she was a housewife who helped out at the company’s office part-time.
According to charging documents, Shin told Sheriff’s detectives through a Korean translator that after coming home from work, her husband asked her to buy him a bottle of alcohol. She reportedly bought him a bottle of Jack Daniels whiskey and gave it to her husband, who was doing extra work ‘in the store’ with two employees.
After the employees left, Shin said her husband asked her to come to the store, have a drink with him and sing to him. Shin drank two light beers, and prosecutors wrote in charging papers that the victim “drank almost the rest of the bottle of whiskey.”
At one point, Shin hid the keys to their cars, she told investigators. According to the records, Shin said she knew her husband sometimes drove under the influence. A short time later, she said her husband asked her to buy another bottle of whiskey. She refused and reportedly told him to stop drinking because his family was coming over for Thanksgiving the next day.
Shin told investigators that her husband began insulting her father and mother, then demanded a set of keys and tried to leave the house.
“She attempted to block the doorway to prevent the victim from driving, but he grabbed her by the hair and then punched her in the face,” prosecutors wrote in the complaint. “She fell to the ground and the victim walked outside.”
Shin then said she wanted her lawyer before proceeding with the interview, records state. The detectives took a break and continued the interview, and Shin reportedly claimed the killing was in self-defense.
The defendant was arrested on the night of November 27. Charging papers show she knocked on a neighbor’s door around 11:30 p.m. The neighbor told Sheriff’s deputies that the woman had blood on her hands. She told the neighbor that her husband was dying and asked her to call the police.
Officers were dispatched to the 10200 block of Ainsworth Avenue South at 11:37 p.m. After speaking to the 911 caller, they checked a nearby driveway and heard hysterical screaming, according to court documents. Officers found Shin holding the victim on the ground.
Shin was pulled off the man. While searching for an injury, Shin allegedly said she had gotten into an argument with her husband and stabbed him in the back with a knife. She was then arrested in the back of a patrol vehicle.
Officers found a “very large” stab wound on the victim’s back, the documents state. Fire crews subsequently arrived and pronounced him dead at the scene.
A house on the property and an outbuilding were evacuated by officers. There were signs of a struggle in both buildings, the documents show. There was stuff broken and scattered on the floor, and there was blood splatter in both buildings.
