Oxford man killed during argument with wife

Granville County Sheriff Brindell Wilkins said deputies went to the home of Rotonya and Carlos Russell, at 4238 Belltown Road, around 2:30 a.m. after Rotonya Russell's 15-year-old daughter called 911.

Carlos Russell, 35, had just gotten off work and his wife, 40, had returned home after a night out with friends when they started fighting, and the argument escalated into violence, Wilkins said.

"He immediately ran outside into the yard up to the neighbor's house and was beating on the door for them to help him," the sheriff added.

"She was extremely upset, hysterical," he said of the girl, who reported in the frantic 911 call that her stepfather was stabbed in the neck but that he was still awake and talking.

"My mama and daddy were arguing, and it was an accident," she said.

Carlos Russell died at Granville Medical Center, and Rotonya Russell was jailed under a $100,000 bond.

Wilkins said deputies have had to go to the home in the past because of arguments but that there was never any indication of violence.

Those who know the couple – who also have two young sons – said arguing wasn't uncommon for them. Friend Pamela Lester said she had warned Rotonya Russell about the fighting.

"I've always told her to think, because something might happen that you can't take back," Lester said.

Marquis Skinner, a relative of Carlos Russell, said he never thought the fighting would lead to violence.

"They were kind of back and forth," Skinner said. "They would break up every now and then, but I thought everything was love. I didn't think anybody would get stabbed."