FALL RIVER, Mass. (AP) – Two young women charged with the fatal stabbing of a 19-year-old woman were denied bail a second time after claiming they acted in self defense.

Karen Cordeiro and Carla Carvalho, both 20, are charged with the Feb. 5 murder of Courtney Sau, a 2004 Taunton High School graduate who was studying criminal justice at Bridgewater State College. They have been in custody since the slaying.

Sau was stabbed several times in the throat and stomach with broken beer bottles and steak knives. The confrontation apparently stemmed from an argument over a boyfriend.

Cordeiro’s attorney, Francis O’Boy, told the court the women left their apartment armed because Sau had threatened to kill them, The Herald News of Fall River reported. Cordeiro and Carvalho had been harassed by Sau since November, O’Boy said.

Prosecutor Steven Gagne said if the two women were in fear, they should have stayed home and called 911.

Judge Gilbert J. Nadeau denied bail and scheduled a March 15 probable cause hearing.