Thursday, April 9, 1998 | 11:11 a.m.
A 10-year-old girl tried valiantly to save her mother's life as her stepfather stabbed and slashed at them with a large kitchen knife, Metro Police said.
The girl, who was wounded twice, survived the 11:30 p.m. incident Wednesday at their home in the 1900 block of Nebula Drive, just west of Lamb Boulevard and south of Lake Mead Boulevard. She is in stable and fair condition today at the University Medical Center, hospital officials said.
The mother, a 29-year-old Las Vegas woman, died at 4:45 a.m. today at the same hospital.
Joseph Michael Smith, 31, of Las Vegas, was booked on one count of murder with a deadly weapon and one count of attempted murder with a deadly weapon. He was being held today without bail in the Clark County Detention Center.
"The daughter tried to intervene -- she came between her mother and stepfather," Metro homicide Lt. Wayne Petersen said today. "She was stabbed twice in the torso. Her mother was stabbed and slashed repeatedly to the torso, arms and head."
Petersen said that when officers arrived, they found Smith standing over the woman with a blood-dripping knife in his hand.
Police drew their pistols and ordered him to drop the weapon, which he did. He was taken into custody without further incident, Petersen said.
Metro Police responded to the home after receiving a 911 call from a woman who told police dispatchers that she was having a fight with her husband.
Petersen said the woman told the dispatcher they had been arguing all night, but did not say what had sparked the argument.
Petersen said Smith talked with police after the incident but did not indicate that his wife was stabbed because she made the 911 call, Petersen said.
Police said two children were in the apartment at the time -- a 12-year-old boy and the 10-year-old girl. Police described them as the victim's children from a a previous marriage.
It is believed that the boy slept though the incident, Petersen said.
Both victims were taken to UMC. The daughter came out of surgery in stable condition but the mother was listed in very critical condition until her death, police said.
Their names, as well as that of the boy, were not immediately released pending notification of other relatives.
Smith, who police say is ex-military, originally was booked on two counts of attempted murder. One of the charges was modified early this morning after his wife died, police said.
Petersen said it was not known what Smith or his wife did for a living or whether they were employed.
It also was not immediately known how long the couple had been married or how long they had resided at their current address.
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