Judge sentences woman to 17 years in prison

FARMINGTON – A local woman was sentenced to 17 years in prison for stabbing a man while she was on probation.

On Thursday, Circuit Court Judge Kenneth W. Pratte sentenced Kristy M. Bales, 23, of Farmington, to 17 years in prison for second-degree assault and for violating the probation she received for 10 counts of forgery.

According to court records, Bales stabbed a 79-year-old man on Sept. 10 in what she had originally claimed was self defense.

Park Hills Cpl. Richard McFarland, and Officers Brian Whitfield and Jacob Sitton were dispatched to a Park Hills residence for a man who had been stabbed. He was not seriously injured. Police say the man refused medical treatment that night but sought medical treatment the next morning.

The man told police that the woman came to his house wanting him to take her to buy some pills. He said he told her he didn’t have any cash and his checking account was frozen because someone stole his checks.

He said the woman began calling numerous people trying to find drugs and he told her he wanted his phone back. He said he reached out to take the phone and the woman pushed him away, causing him to fall. He said the woman then got a knife and threatened to stab him. He said he grabbed a chair to keep her from stabbing him. He indicated that while trying to get the knife away from her, she cut him with it. 

The woman told police it was self defense. She said she was there because she needed money. She said he got mad that she was on his phone and they both began fighting over the phone and he fell. She said she believed he was going to hurt her for causing him to fall because he had just “put his hands on” her a few days before. 

She told police she went to get a knife and when she turned around, he was right behind her with a chair. She said the man grabbed one of her arms so she began swinging the knife until she cut him. 

When McFarland asked the woman why she didn’t just leave or run for help, she said his neighbors had already told her not to come back there and she didn’t want to walk to Farmington. 

When the officer asked her to write out a statement, she said she wouldn’t be able to tell the same story on paper because her memory was “no good” because of all her past drug use. 

The officer then asked if she was under the influence of anything at the time and she said no. 

When asked about the man’s stolen checks, the woman said she did not steal them.

Both told police that the man put the knife back under the sink with the other knives after the stabbing. They could not identify which one was used in the stabbing.

In the forgery cases, Bales took someone’s checkbook and wrote several checks.

In other cases before Judge Pratte Friday, Matthew E. Hart, 25, of Frankclay, was sentenced to eight years in prison for first-degree assault.

According to court records, on Oct. 18, Hart threatened his ex-girlfriend’s new boyfriend with two large kitchen knives. He threatened to kill the man if the man ever hurt his ex-girlfriend, but handed the knives over to the woman. 

Hart then got a hammer and followed the couple outside. While outside, Hart struck the man with a hammer several times in the head and body. 

After being arrested, Hart told a deputy that he did not want to hurt the man at first, but then he wanted to kill the man.

Teresa Ressel is a reporter for the Daily Journal and can be reached at 573-431-2010, ext. 179 or at tressel@dailyjournalonline.com.