OZARK, Mo. -- A father says he doesn't know why, a month and a half after a police chase and an officer-involved shooting, the woman who he says stabbed him is not charged. The woman also continues to have custody of their young children who witnessed the shooting and stabbing.
'MOMMY BEAT THE *** OUT OF ME'
On April 29, officers arrived on scene to find a father with stab wounds in the 700 block of McCracken in Ozark. The woman the man says stabbed him left the scene which eventually ended with an officer shooting her. The father of a three-year-old boy says the boy’s mother punished him for accidentally killing a kitten by squeezing it too tightly. “I went into check on him and I said ‘buddy are you okay’ and he said to me ‘mommy beat the (expletive) out of me.’ I confronted her about that and an argument escalated from there,” Roy Rippee said.
The argument turned the home Rippee and the woman shared into a crime scene. Rippee says his girlfriend stabbed him so he called 911. He says she took off in a vehicle. “The suspect actually stopped a couple of times. One of the times the vehicle stopped, Ozarks police officers attempted to apprehend the suspect by Tasing,” Christian County Sheriff Joey Kyle said.
“From my understanding they tried to Tase her twice. I guess one went of the chest bone so it didn't work,” Rippee said. “While I was talking to an officer she barrels up through our neighbor’s yard, drives through the neighbor’s yard into our front yard,” Rippee said. “She makes a beeline toward the female officer and starts wrestling with her. She attacked the officer.”
“Officers confronted the initial suspect in the front yard of the house,” Kyle said. “A physical struggle ensued and the individual was shot one time.” Even though the prosecutor ruled on May 16 the shooting was justified, no charges are filed against the woman. KSPR News is not releasing her name because no formal charges are filed. “I'm very confident I will get my kids. I don't know why they are dragging their feet with their investigation,” Rippee said. “She is facing numerous felonies first the attack with the knife on me, evading police, DWI and attacking a police officer.”
According to Children's Division reports, Rippee’s three-year-old son and four-year-old daughter witnessed the stabbing and the shooting. “She and I agreed to separate. I wanted the kids to be in their environment. They have a big backyard, they have a trampoline, a swing set, little cars they can play with,” Rippee said.
“I agreed to move out. When I did we had an agreement we would share the kids because we have shared custody.” Rippee says that never happened. “I miss my kids, I do need help. I'll do whatever I have to do to get my kids,” Rippee said. “My kids are the air that I breathe.”
KSPR News stopped by the woman’s home Wednesday for comment. KSPR News also gave her our contact number but have not heard back.
According to children's division reports she said she was drinking and did not remember any of the events. The woman is facing a previous domestic assault charge for an incident last year. The Christian County prosecutor and the Ozark police chief did not return phone calls from KSPR News.
