Medical Assistant Suspected in Fatal Stabbing Over Her Fiance Denied Bail

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A 26-year-old woman accused of fatally stabbing her fiancé’s alleged attacker in June was denied her habeas corpus petition for release on Aug. 12 in Baltimore City Circuit Court.

Defense attorney Martin Cohen argued for his client’s release on her own recognizance, if not, on home detention as he detailed the moments that unfolded leading up to the death of 26-year-old Demetri Briscoe. His client, Karin Redfern, is currently charged with first-degree murder, using a dangerous weapon with the intent to injure and concealing a dangerous weapon.

According to the Maryland Judiciary website, Redfern was denied bail in the city’s District Court on June 2, one day after the incident on the 3000 block of Westfield Avenue. A habeas corpus petition allows defendant’s to challenge this ruling.

Cohen waived Redfern’s presence due to difficulties contacting the Maryland Reception, Diagnostic and Classification Center (MRDCC) where she is currently being held.

On Tuesday, Cohen told Judge Martin H. Schreiber III that Redfern, her fiancé and their five-year-old child live with his parents in Northeast Baltimore where the incident occurred in the street. On June 1, Redfern’s fiancé’s mother — who was home with their son —called the couple, saying a man and a woman were breaking into the house. Redfern and her fiancé arrived moments later when the latter was allegedly attacked by the victim.

Briscoe reportedly laughed at Redfern after he saw she had run inside the home to get a knife, Cohen explained. As Briscoe approached Redfern, the defense attorney said she “slashed at him to keep him away.”

“It happened to be that that slash ended up killing him,” he said. “All my client was trying to do was to stop this from happening. … In many states, she wouldn’t be charged in this situation because she’s within her God given rights to defend herself and anybody else in an attack.”

Cohen added that Redfern was working as a certified medical assistant at the Greater Baltimore Medical Center (GBMC) at the time. The defendant was nominated for the 2024 Dr. John Adams Rounds Nancy J. Petrarca Compassionate Caregiver Award in February, according to a Facebook post from GBMC four months prior to the stabbing.

The prosecutor told Judge Schreiber that Cohen does not yet have evidence from discovery; however, a “full video of the incident” tells a different story. In the Ring doorbell footage, the prosecutor said, the fight was already over when the defendant returned outside with the knife. Her fiancé was sitting up on the ground and Briscoe was “nowhere near him.”

Later in the video, the prosecutor noted, Redfern’s fiancé is heard asking where his attacker went to which she responded, “Probably bleeding to death.”

In charging documents, Baltimore Police Department (BPD) officers reported finding a trail of blood tracked from Redfern’s residence to a few houses down and across Westfield Avenue. A resident who lived at the other end of the blood trail reported seeing a man bleeding on her front porch before he got into a dark-colored vehicle and drove away.

Police found Briscoe at Franklin Square Hospital, where he was pronounced dead from his injuries around 2:39 a.m. When Redfern, her fiancé and a third person arrived at the same hospital, police allegedly saw a bloody knife in plain view on the front passenger’s side floor of their vehicle.

Redfern is next scheduled in reception court on Oct. 10.