Marion woman charged with attempted murder, willful injury after stabbing

MARION – A Marion woman has been charged with attempted murder and willful injury after she allegedly stabbed a man when he refused give up money for cigarettes.

Mary L. Walker, 49, is accused of stabbing Michael Thompson, 57, around 6:20 p.m. Wednesday night at his apartment, 585 Fifth Ave, police said. Thompson is expected to live, police said, even though he suffered a collapsed lung and three stab wounds, to the chest, shoulder and back.

Marion police Lt. Scott Elam said investigators recovered knives from Thompson's apartment, and were trying to identify which one was used in the attack.

“It was described to me as a cross between a steak knife and a butcher knife,” Elam said.

Police declined to release details about what led up to the stabbing, but one of Walker's roommates said Walker became upset when Thompson refused to give Walker's friend $5 for a pack of cigarettes.

Makina Sprague, 33, said she overheard Walker saying she was “a bad girl” when she came home after the stabbing, before the police arrived.

“(Thompson) said ‘no,' and she said, ‘It ain't goin' down like that,' and grabbed him by the neck,” Sprague said.

Thompson was able to identify his attacker to police, and officers arrested Walker at her residence, 488 Seventh St., a short time later. She was taken to the Linn County Jail, where she was being held Thursday on $100,650 cash bond.

Walker's criminal record includes dozens of previous charges, including felony convictions for assault, assault with a weapon and drug possession. She pled guilty to assault with intent to inflict serious injury for threatening two men with a knife in April 2009, according to court documents, and was charged with assault for threatening a man with a knife at her residence last November.

Thompson's official medical condition was unknown, but police said he remained hospitalized Thursday.

“He'll be there a couple days,” Elam said.

Sprague, who said she's known Thompson for about a year, said he is a quiet guy who “doesn't start trouble.”

“He tries to get people who are having a bad day to have a good day,” Sprague said. “He's one of those types of people. That's why it's really sad.”