Ellicott City man accused in fatal stabbing of estranged wife can stand trial

An Ellicott City man accused of stabbing his estranged wife to death can stand trial next year, a Howard County Circuit Court judge ruled Friday.

Alexander Stephenson is charged with killing Amethyst Stephenson. She was 47. Police and prosecutors say he stabbed her on a Sunday morning in February.

Four hours earlier, he had been in custody in Westminster on a charge of violating a protective order, but he was released on his personal recognizance.

Circuit Judge Lara Weathersbee found that Alexander Stephenson, 53, is competent to stand trial. A 10-day trial is tentatively set for mid-March.

Weathersbee, who reviewed Stephenson’s competency evaluation, said in court Friday: “I was impressed by his understanding of the proceedings ... I do make a finding that he does have the ability to assist in his defense.”

In March, Stephenson pleaded not criminally responsible to several charges, including first-degree murder, second-degree murder and violating a protective order related to the stabbing death.

The competency finding was supported by Joseph Murtha, the attorney representing Stephenson in the case, at Friday’s hearing.

Murtha was not available for comment after the hearing.

At around 8:13 a.m. on Feb. 8, county police were called to a home on Huntsmans Run in a small wooded neighborhood off Triadelphia Road in Ellicott City.

“Caller’s advising their dad just stabbed their mom with a small black knife,” a 911 dispatcher said on police radio. “Unknown where the suspect has gone.”

A month prior, Amethyst Stephenson sought a protective order in Howard County Circuit Court against her husband, alleging that he had made “threats of violence” and caused “mental injury of a child.”

“He has threatened to kill us,” she wrote in her petition.

A temporary protective order was granted that day and was extended several times. On Feb. 2, Alexander Stephenson agreed to a final protective order, which was effective for two years.

Five days later, on Feb. 7, he was arrested for violating the final protective order after he reportedly called his wife.

Around 8 p.m., Maryland State Police were called to a High’s convenience store and gas station on Sykesville Road in Carroll County for a fight taking place in a vehicle. Police spoke to an employee who said they saw two people fighting inside an SUV in the parking lot.

Troopers talked to Alexander Stephenson, who they allege smelled like alcohol and admitted to drinking. He told police the situation was overblown.

They then spoke with his 17-year-old son, who reported that he had been driving when it became apparent that his father was drunk. The son tried to call his stepmother, Amethyst Stephenson, from his cellphone.

According to the son, Alexander Stephenson grabbed the cellphone and threw it out of the moving SUV. The son pulled into the parking lot, where a scuffle ensued as he tried to stop his father from grabbing the vehicle’s keys, police allege.

Alexander Stephenson’s 14-year-old daughter, who was also in the SUV, told troopers that her father scratched her right eye.

Amethyst Stephenson showed up at the High’s to pick up her stepchildren and reported that her husband tried to call her twice, at 7:43 and 7:44 p.m.

She was dead the next day.

Amethyst Stephenson’s biological children, Bennet Chapple and Colin Chapple, filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Alexander Stephenson in July. The sons are seeking a jury trial in Howard County Circuit Court.

An attorney for the Chapples did not respond to a request for comment.

Banner reporter Dylan Segelbaum contributed to this story.