Inset left to right: Briasia White and Lamarian Girtman (McLennan County Jail). Background: The apartment complex where White and Girtman allegedly fought in Waco, Texas (Google Maps).
Two siblings in Texas were recently arrested over a fight about fruit that devolved into death threats, Lone Star State police say.
Briasia White, 20, stands accused of injury to a child. Her brother, Lamarian Girtman, 18, stands accused of assault causing bodily injury to a family member, according to the Waco Police Department.
The underlying incident occurred around 7 p.m. on Sept. 24, at the Tribeca Apartments on Sanger Avenue in Waco, police said.
That night, officers responded to a domestic disturbance, according to an affidavit obtained by Waco-based CBS and Telemundo KWTX.
The defendants greeted police outside the residence with their mother, according to the charging documents. The brother was told to wait outside while investigators first spoke with the sister.
To hear White tell it, the altercation began when she confronted Girtman about him eating some grapes that she had just purchased.
The argument devolved fast, authorities say.
After White brought up the grapes, Girtman began yelling at her, got angry, and continued yelling even as she walked away from him, went into another room, shut the door, and locked it, the affidavit says.
So, the woman's brother started banging on the door until he pounded a hole into it, according to the charging document.
After that, White told Girtman that if he tried to open the door and come into the room, she would spray him with "mace," the affidavit says. But the woman allegedly wasted no time waiting.
The sister told police she then opened the door to stop her brother from breaking it and pepper-sprayed him, according to the affidavit.
Girtman, however, was able to block the pepper spray with his jacket, police said. After that, he allegedly began punching his sister in the side of the head. At one point, the teenager allegedly wrapped his arm around White's head and said "I'm going to kill you," according to the charging document.
Finally, the woman freed herself from her brother's grasp by punching him and ending the attack, law enforcement says.
Girtman, for his part, agreed with the grape genesis of the argument, police said. But the narratives quickly diverged.
The teenager told investigators his sister began punching him in the face for the grape-eating incident, the affidavit says.
As the argument progressed, the brother said his sister was the one who first got loud and angry, according to the charging document.
Girtman, however, did not deny also attacking his sister, said he knew he was going to jail over the incident, but added that his memory of the attack was incomplete because he blacked out during the ensuing violence due to anger, according to law enforcement.
A third sibling was also present and got swept up in the incident, police said. When asked what happened, the younger sibling allegedly said White had, at one point, slapped him in the face as he stepped in between the pair to break up the fight. Girtman also mentioned the younger brother being slapped by White, police said.
White, who initially denied slapping the younger brother, eventually admitted to the role she played in the violence, after being read her Miranda rights, according to the charging document.
Both defendants were booked into the McLennan County Jail last week and have since posted bond, records show.