Jurors will decide the fate of a man who allegedly stabbed his girlfriend to death as she was fleeing. Matthew Robertson Terry, 47, stands trial in Hillsborough County, Florida. Victim Kay Baker, 43, was an elementary school teacher. You can watch in the player above.
The Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office has said Terry got upset with Baker during a visit to the Landing Bar & Grill the night of May 27.
“I saw you dancing with that guy,” he allegedly said.
Early next morning, a male witness heard screaming and discovered Baker dead outside a home, according to a redacted affidavit.
Investigators said they followed a trail of blood to Terry in overgrown brush and trees. Terry was “found only wearing a t-shirt and underwear soaked in apparent blood,” deputies said. He had lacerations on his fingers and hands, as well as superficial cuts to his arm, authorities said.“ The defendant also had two apparent stab wounds along each side of his neck, which appeared to be symmetrical and clean punctures,” the sheriff’s office said. “The defendant declined to make any statements without legal representation.” Based on the blood pooling where he was, authorities suggested these were self-inflicted wounds.
Prosecutors seek the death penalty.
Terry was convicted in Michigan in 2017 for a similar attack on another girlfriend. The charge was assault with intent to do great bodily harm.
He was released in 2020.
The survivor, ex-girlfriend Michaelle Rogers, reportedly started dating him in 2015 and they had a child together.
“He comes across as a very normal, caring person,” she told WTSP. “He just had a very likeable personality and he could get people to believe pretty much anything he wanted them to.”
[Booking photo via Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office]