Woman fatally stabs romantic rival in melee over man, police say

HOUMA, La. — One Louisiana woman has been accused of killing another in a fight over a man that also included the suspect’s mother.

Deputies with the Terrebonne Parish Sheriff's Office were called just before 11 p.m. Tuesday to an apartment complex in Houma, where they found Jessica McGehee, 24, suffering from multiple stab wounds. Sheriff Jerry Larpenter said in a news release that deputies performed CPR until paramedics arrived.

McGehee was pronounced dead a short time later at Terrebonne General Medical Center, the sheriff said.

Investigators determined that McGehee and another woman, Miranda Gilley, had been arguing over a man. Gilley, 21, urged McGehee to come to her apartment complex to fight.

When McGehee arrived with a third woman, Ashley Pitre, they, along with Gilley's mother, Miranda Swartz, all began to fight, the Sheriff's Office said. At some point, Gilley and McGehee were pulled apart.

That was when Gilley pulled a knife from her pocket and stabbed McGehee, investigators said.

Gilley, who was taken into custody without incident at the scene, has been charged with second-degree murder. Pitre and Swartz were charged with disturbing the peace by fighting.

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