Kelly Ann Olivier Tinsley fatally stabbed her mother, Cheryl Maggard Meurer, authorities said. (Images: Brevard County Sheriff’s Office)
A woman allegedly claimed she stabbed her elderly mother to death in self-defense and waited seven hours to call 911, but Florida deputies said the defendant’s injuries did not match defensive wounds.
“Ms. Tinsley showed your affiant several lacerations to her legs and injuries to her right hand she claimed were caused by the decedent; however, none of the injuries appeared consistent with defensive knife wounds,” they wrote in the affidavit for arrest affidavit against Kelly Ann Olivier Tinsley, 49.
She is in the Brevard County Jail on a count of manslaughter reclassified with the use of a deadly weapon for allegedly killing Cheryl Maggard Meurer, 69.
Tinsley allegedly called 911 on Tuesday at 5:16 a.m., according to documents viewed by Law&Crime. She allegedly said Meurer attacked her, and she attacked her back.
Questioned by the 911 operator, she admitted stabbing her mother but hung up when asked about the wound location, documents stated.
Deputies said they arrived at 5:26 a.m., finding Meurer under a blanket on the floor inside the doorway of the home. A pool of blood surrounded her. They forced their way inside, and first responders declared her dead.
Deputies found Tinsley lying awake on a pillow in the hallway facing the front door, they wrote. Suspected blood on the side of the washing machine, about 20 feet from Meurer, they said.
The medical examiner found on Meurer “multiple wounds consistent with defensive knife wounds” on her hands, left arm, right ankle, right knee, and neck, according to documents.
Tinsley allegedly told investigators that on Monday night, her mother told her she “needed to find a bigger place to be a better mom.”
Tinsley said she jokingly replied, “F— that!” according to documents.
She allegedly claimed that Meurer approached her with a knife, and hit her in the mouth, causing the blade to strike her front tooth.
“A glancing blow from the punch struck Ms. Tinsley in the nose,” deputies wrote, describing her alleged side of the story.
Mother and daughter struggled over the knife, and landed on the floor, documents stated.
“Ms. Tinsley held the blade of the knife to the decedent’s neck and told her, ‘Quit coming at me!’” the affidavit said. “At which time, the decedent leaned [forward], still trying to attack her, causing Ms. Tinsley to ‘poke’ her in the neck.”
They continued fighting until “she noticed the decedent’s eyes were changing.”
Tinsley allegedly described walking to the laundry room, changing her clothes, and washing her hands and face with washing machine water.
Sick to her stomach at the sight of blood, she covered her mother’s body with the blanket, laid down in the hallway, and seven hours later, called 911 to report the death.
Despite her self-defense claim, however, authorities found no injuries to her face, lips, or the inside of her mouth, authorities wrote.
“There was no swelling, cuts, nor redness on her face,” they wrote.
They noted “a single healing cut” to her right hand.
Deputies said anyone who may have information about this death investigation is asked to please call Agent Kevin Morris of the Brevard County Sheriff’s Office Homicide Unit at 321-633-8413 or CRIMELINE at 1-800-423-TIPS (8477). All calls to CRIMELINE are confidential and callers can remain anonymous and be eligible for a reward.
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