An April trial date has been set for 40-year-old McKinley Phillips, the Woodbury man accused of fatally stabbing his wife earlier this summer while six children were upstairs watching TV.
During a brief hearing Friday morning, Washington County District Judge Juanita Freeman set several court dates, including Phillips’ trial for April 11, 2022.
Phillips waived his right to a speedy trial so his lawyers have ample time to prepare for trial. His trial is likely to last more than a week, Freeman said.
Wearing an orange, jail-issued t-shirt, Phillips attended the court hearing, held via Zoom, from the Washington County Jail in Stillwater.
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Phillips faces a charge of second-degree murder with a dangerous weapon for allegedly stabbing his wife, 42-year-old Shavon Pettway, multiple times in the basement on June 25 while six children were watching TV upstairs. He then fled the state on a Greyhound bus.
According to the criminal complaint, officers from the Woodbury Public Safety Department were called to a house in the 7500 block of Steepleview Road around 3:40 p.m. A woman who said she was Phillips’ mother called 911 to report that her son had called her to confess he had killed his wife and that her body was in the basement of their home. She also said there were children in the house, ranging in ages from 5 to 15, the complaint states.
Phillips fled the scene after the fatal stabbing. He was located on Greyhound bus traveling east near Tomah, Wis., on June 26.
The six children were placed in the care of Washington County Child Protection Services; Phillips is the father of one of the children, the other five are his stepchildren.
Phillips is being held in the Washington County Jail on $2 million bail. He is being represented by court-appointed attorney Mac Guptil.
His next court date will be January 21, 2022.
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