Inset: Allante Wallace (Maricopa County Sheriff's Office). Background: An Arizona light rail train, which was the scene of Allante Wallace's alleged stabbing attack (AZ Family/YouTube).
An Arizona woman stabbed a train rider more than a dozen times after the victim allegedly started a fight with her, according to police. Her lawyer claims she had "no other choice" as everyone aboard the train was "just watching" and refused to step in.
Allante Wallace, 34, is charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon for the Feb. 12 stabbing attack, according to court documents obtained by Law&Crime.
Police say in the probable cause affidavit that Wallace plunged a "steak knife" into a 42-year-old woman at least 14 times, then returned to her seat, picked up a "pizza box" she was carrying, her Dexter's Laboratory cartoon backpack, and then left. The alleged incident was caught on interior surveillance video, per the affidavit.
"[Wallace] is seen leaving the light rail car holding the knife in her right hand, a pizza box in her left and carrying a white backpack," the affidavit says, noting how the bag "depicted cartoon character Dexter's Laboratory."
Wallace was on an eastbound Valley Metro light rail train traveling near East Apache Boulevard and South Dorsey Lane in Tempe when she and the victim were observed by witnesses "engaging in a verbal confrontation that escalated into a physical fight," according to police.
"One witness reported hearing the victim confront the suspect verbally before the assault," the affidavit alleges. "During the physical struggle, witnesses observed the suspect retrieve a knife — described as a 'steak knife' — and stab the victim repeatedly at close range."
Police say Wallace stabbed the woman several times in her left thigh, once in the right thigh, once in the left breast, twice in the left forearm, once in the right abdomen, once in the left armpit, and twice in her jaw. She was hospitalized with "life-threatening" injuries but survived.
"Several of the stabs were when the suspect was standing over the victim who was laying on her back in a defensive posture with the suspect using an overhead to downward stabbing motion," the affidavit says.
Before the fight, surveillance video shows the victim pointing her finger at Wallace and "closing the distance" between them while Wallace was still seated. The victim can then be seen "getting up and walking towards the area" where Wallace is sitting "and standing over her," according to the affidavit.
It's unclear where the knife that Wallace allegedly used to attack the victim came from. Police say the victim can be seen pulling Wallace's hair and fighting with her before the knife appears on video.
"[Wallace] picks up a knife with a red handle off of the car floor and begins to stab the victim," the affidavit says. "[Wallace] proceeds to stab the victim at least 14 times. Midway during the stabbing, victim lets go of [Wallace's] hair but [Wallace] continues to stab victim."
After the fight and after fleeing, Wallace contacted a defense attorney and agreed to turn herself in with him, according to police.
"Her attorney … stated that his client Allante Wallace was at the light rail last night … and was attacked in which she defended herself then left the light rail in shock," the affidavit says. "Wallace did not want to provide any further statements."
Wallace appeared in court this week and her lawyer once again claimed that she committed the stabbing in self-defense, according to local NBC affiliate KPNX. The attorney said everyone on the light rail train with Wallace was "just watching" the fight and not stepping in, KPNX reports.
Wallace was ordered held on a $350,000 bond. Her next court date has not been listed online yet as of Thursday.