A 32-year-Portsmouth woman with a lengthy criminal record faces charges of attempted aggravated murder, attempted murder, felonious assault, and tampering with evidence after a stabbing on the 4th of July.
Prosecutors say Amanda Jenkins attacked a man on the 4th of July after a weekend of bizarre behavior.
Around 9:30 pm on July 2, officers responded to the Washington Apartments for a report of a woman breaking glass and threatening to burn down the building. Officers spoke with Amanda Jenkins who claimed she lived in the apartment. Police said she had two shopping carts full of belongings with her.
The door to the apartment was not locked and witnesses said Jenkins sometimes visited the apartments. Officers were unable to determine whether she was allowed inside. They discovered that the broken glass came from a picture frame that fell out of the shopping cart. Officers took photos of the contents of the shopping cart and let Jenkins go.
Just after 12:30 am, a resident of the apartment building contacted officers to complain that Jenkins kept threatening to fight her. The caller didn’t report direct threats and said she would contact apartment management in the morning.
Around 6:30 am on July 4, PPD officers responded to a report of a man stabbed in an alley behind 3rd Street. An ambulance was dispatched to the scene and transported the victim to the hospital. Police notified relatives of the man, who identified him on Facebook as Buddy Bennett.
Officers took Jenkins into custody at the scene. Police had arrested her four times already this year of charges of disorderly conduct, trespassing, and failing to appear in court for a domestic violence charge from last November.
Back then, according to the police report, Jenkins was in an altercation with her brother at an apartment on 16th Street. The brother stated Jenkins punched him in the face several times.
For an unknown reason, Jenkins then turned on the neighbors. Officers have arrested the homeless woman 13 times on various charges including domestic violence, assault, failure to appear, disorderly conduct, criminal trespass, probation violation, possession of drug abuse instruments, theft, and petty theft.