Bloomington man stabbed after domestic dispute

Bloomington police responded to a 911 call in which a witness reported a stabbing.

The witness reported that a 23-year-old male was stabbed at about 9:30 p.m. Jan. 4, in Canterbury House Apartments at 540 S. Basswood Drive.

Officers arrived at the apartment complex and found the victim inside the apartment residence with a single stab wound to his upper left chest area, Bloomington Police Department Sgt. Dana Cole said.

The victim told police he was stabbed by his girlfriend, 27-year-old D’Erika Sylvester, at her residence with a small kitchen knife after the two had an argument.

Officers arrested Sylvester for a felony count of aggregated battery, Cole said.

The victim was transported to IU Health Bloomington Hospital. Medical staff did not consider the wound to be life-threatening, Cole said.

Cole said two witnesses, a man and a woman present inside the apartment at the time of the incident, were able to confirm the victim’s story.

The female witness called to report the incident, Cole said, while the man retrieved a cloth and applied pressure to the victim’s wound to suppress the bleeding.

During an interview with officers, Sylvester said the wound was inflicted by a man who stabbed the victim after a verbal argument and was independent of the male witness.

Witnesses did not corroborate the suspect’s account, Cole said.

Following the incident, detectives obtained a search warrant and recovered a knife from the kitchen sink of Sylvester’s residence.

— Kirsten Clark