Nationwide — Shanetta Bossell, a 39-year-old African American woman from Kansas City, Missouri, is facing a first-degree murder charge after allegedly stabbing and killing 29-year-old Graham Hoffman, a local firefighter paramedic, inside an ambulance early Sunday morning.Authorities say Bossell fatally stabbed Hoffman while he was transporting her to the hospital. Hoffman, a three-year veteran of the Kansas City Fire Department, died from his injuries at a nearby hospital later that day, according to KSHB.
Police say they found Bossell on the roadside with a deep cut on her finger and called an ambulance. Hoffman’s partner, who was driving the ambulance, said he heard shouting and pulled over. He found Hoffman bleeding, who reportedly said, “She stabbed me in the heart.”
This wasn’t Bossell’s first run-in with law enforcement. Just 5 days earlier, she was arrested for assaulting a Platte City police officer. The officer said Bossell tried to break into his personal vehicle, and when he stopped her, she bit his arm and tried to grab his knife. She was charged with second-degree assault and resisting arrest but was released on bond two days later.
Following Hoffman’s death, prosecutors filed several new charges against her, including first-degree murder, armed criminal action, third-degree assault, and resisting arrest. In Missouri, a first-degree murder charge can carry the death penalty.
Bossell made her first court appearance by video on Monday. The judge entered a not-guilty plea on her behalf, set her bond at $1 million, and scheduled a bond review hearing for May 5. A preliminary hearing is set for June 6. She remains in custody at the Clay County Jail.