LEWISTON – Police on Friday arrested a Knox Street woman and charged her in the stabbing death of her boyfriend more than a month ago.

Tarina Botelho, 31, was charged with murder Friday afternoon when Lewiston and Maine State Police went to the home of her mother on Lisbon Street. Botelho was taken to the Androscoggin County Jail in Auburn, where she remained Friday night.

Investigators say that on the night of Sept. 5, Botelho stabbed 32-year-old Jamilah Shabazz in the chest in their Knox Street apartment. Shabazz died from the wound while Botelho’s six children were in the apartment.

From the start, police said they considered Botelho a suspect. Although she initially denied stabbing Shabazz, police said she later maintained she stabbed him in self-defense. According to friends of the couple, Botelho and Shabazz had a long history of fights that often turned physical.

“We’ve been speaking to neighbors and others about the relationship between the two of them,” said Lewiston Deputy Police Chief Michael Bussiere. “We’re exploring the fact that there was a history of domestic violence between them.”

Police consulted with the Maine Attorney General’s Office about the case and decided to charge Botelho.

“This was all based on a lot of legwork between Lewiston police detectives and state police,” Bussiere said. “We found there was probable cause to charge her with murder.”

The charge implies that Botelho meant to kill Shabazz when she stabbed him in the chest. A lesser charge of manslaughter would have been filed if police believed the stabbing were accidental.

Shortly after the stabbing, Botelho left the state to stay with relatives.

“She left the state temporarily, but we were always aware of where she was,” Bussiere said.

Lewiston police Detectives James Theiss and Brian O’Malley worked for seven weeks on the case, gathering evidence and interviewing several people about the knifing.

At about 2 p.m. Friday, detectives arrested Botelho without incident at her mother’s home on Lisbon Street. She is expected to make her initial court appearance next week.

Botelho’s six children – between the ages of 6 and 13 – have been staying with their grandmother since the night of the killing, police said. At least two of them are believed to have witnessed the slaying.

Shabazz, originally from the Bronx, N.Y., had been living with Botelho and her children, according to neighbors. He had also been living off and on at the Motel 6 on Pleasant Street, according to court records. Those records also showed that Shabazz had a history of domestic assaults in Lewiston.

In November 2003, he was arrested on two counts of criminal threatening and on a charge of aggravated assault. The victim in that case was a woman who reported Shabazz had threatened and attacked her at the Motel 6. At the time, Shabazz listed an address on College Street.

Botelho also has a criminal history in Lewiston. According to court records, she has been convicted of terrorizing, assault, disorderly conduct and negotiating a worthless instrument.

In May, she was involved in a fight on Knox Street while drug agents were raiding an apartment across the street. She was charged with disorderly conduct.

Botelho was held without bail at the county jail Friday night, according to a jail official. Bail will likely be discussed when she is assigned a lawyer for her first court appearance.

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