Greene woman stabbed to death

Objections to music volume leads to homicide

By Amelia Robinson

e-mail address: amelia_robinson@coxohio.com

Dayton Daily News

XENIA -  A neighborhood squabble escalated to homicide Monday when a woman

was stabbed to death following a dispute

about loud music, the Greene County Sheriff's Office said Tuesday.

Martina Thomas, 32, of 890 N. Bickett Road is charged with murder and

voluntary manslaughter in the death of 27-year-old

Deana Bryant, her downstairs neighbor.

"This whole incident was over loud music," sheriff’s Major William Harden

said.

Thomas was being held Tuesday in Greene County Jail in lieu of a $150,000

bond. Harden said witnesses told officers

Thomas went downstairs and confronted Bryant after she turned up her volume

at about 11 p.m.

Claude Lyons, chief investigator for the Greene County coroner's office,

said the knife hit an artery in Bryant’s shoulder.

"Once that happened, she bled to death," Lyons said.

Blood stains still dotted the dark gray carpet outside of Bryant’s doorway

Tuesday. Hardens said medics called CareFlight,

but the mother of one daughter died before the helicopter landed.

Bryant and other residents of the six-unit, two-story brick apartment

building routinely complained to authorities about loud

music from Thomas' apartment, neighbors said.

The apartments are stacked on top of each other in two rows.

Harden said Thomas and Bryant had called police on each other about loud

music at least eight times since 1999.

Contact Amelia Robinson at 225-2384 or by e-mail at

amelia_robinson@coxohio.com

[From the Dayton Daily News: 04.02.2003]