Houston stabbing: Shataraca Pervis pleads guilty to murder, sentenced
HOUSTON - A Houston woman was sentenced to 22 years in prison after pleading guilty to the murder of her boyfriend in a hotel in 2018, officials say.
Shataraca Denise Pervis, 50, was charged in the deadly stabbing of 34-year-old Melvin Maxwell at a hotel in the 6200 block of Richmond Ave. on Jan. 4, 2018.
Shataraca Denise Pervis (Photo: Harris County District Attorneys Office)
"Domestic violence can take many different forms, and this was a violent murder," Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg said. "We mourn for the victim and his family – this murder did not have to happen."
According to the district attorney’s office, Pervis had been staying in Maxwell’s hotel room for several days before she stabbed him with a steak knife and left the hotel room in the middle of the night.
She later told two friends that she had killed someone, but didn’t give them any details, the district attorney’s office says.
Maxwell’s body wasn’t found until Jan. 20, prompting a police investigation. The district attorney’s office says crime scene investigators found Maxwell’s empty wallet, which had been rifled through, on the blood-soaked bed.
Pervis was charged in the case in June 2021.
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Officials say she chose to plead guilty on Friday, just before jury selection was set to begin in her murder trial.
Assistant District Attorney Kelly Marshall with the DA’s Domestic Violence Division prosecuted the case.
This was a callous murder, and afterward she fled and she lied," Marshall said. "Justice finally caught up with her after five years when she was confronted with the fact that a Harris County jury was going to hold her accountable for what she did."
The district attorney’s office says Pervis cannot appeal the conviction or sentence, and she has to serve at least half of her sentence before she is eligible for parole.