A woman was sentenced to 20 years in state prison today for stabbing a man after what Superior Court Judge Michael Donio called a “silly argument over a stupid key.”
Tamasa Nobles, 20, admitted in April she fatally stabbed Devon Devine, 20, at her home the 300 block of Wissahickon Avenue on Dec. 2, 2012. The original charge of murder was dropped to first-degree aggravated manslaughter in a plea agreement. The agreement reduced the possible maximum to 22 years.
The stabbing came after a series of physical altercations between Devine and Nobles centering on his refusal to give her a key, Superior Court Judge Michael Donio said. Nobles attacked Devine with a knife after the initial argument but was restrained by a third party and disarmed. After a brief period, Nobles attacked Devine with another knife as he was leaving her home, killing him.
Prior to handing down the sentence, Donio said Nobles had a troubled childhood and that she and Devine, who were a couple, had a history of domestic incidents. He recalled her first appearance in court, where her attorney requested that photographs be taken to verify she had been injured on the day of the stabbing.
“This was a sad, sad affair from the first day and it’s been that way for 18 months,” Donio said.
Ventnor police had been called to the home a month before the killing. A record of that incident indicated there was no physical altercation.
Members of both families addressed the court prior to sentencing. Devine’s grandmother Deborah Keys-Frazier, who had raised him since he was a toddler, said she is praying despite her grief for Nobles to get help.
“He was a good man, a good boy,” she said. “My heart aches. But honestly, in my heart, Tamasa, I forgive you.”
Keys-Frazier found Nobles’ father after the sentencing and assured him God would forgive her.
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