Victim recants his 2015 story that wounds were self-inflicted

Destinee M. Lyons, 44, Suring, is charged with attempted first-degree homicide and aggravated battery as acts of domestic abuse.

Judge Troy Nielsen issued a warrant on June 10 for her arrest.

At 11:15 p.m. on Feb. 14, 2015, Clintonville Police Officer Anthony Arrieta was dispatched to an apartment in Marion in response to a reported stabbing.

Arrieta met Lyons as he entered the apartment.

According to the criminal complaint, Lyons told Arrieta the victim was in the bathroom with a stab wound.

The officer saw blood on the kitchen counter, on the floor and on the wall.

The victim, identified in the complaint as CEK, was lying on the bathroom floor.

CEK had stab wounds in his right shoulder and chest. He was losing a significant amount of blood.

“Help me. I don’t want to die,” CEK said. “I don’t want to lose my arm.”

CEK was later airlifted to ThedaCare Medical Center in Neenah.

Investigation finds discrepancies

Waupaca County Deputy Sara Besel interviewed Lyons the night of the incident.

“While I was speaking with Desiree, she showed no emotion other than to become angry when I asked questions again for clarification,” Besel reported.

Marion Police Officer Jackson Wilson interviewed the victim in an intensive care unit at the Neenah hospital.

The victim said he had blacked out and did not remember anything.

“Throughout the interview he would not go into much detail and continued saying, ‘I stabbed myself,’” Wilson reported.

However, doctors told Wilson it was “highly improbable” that CEK’s wounds were self-inflicted.

A 5-year child who was in the apartment at the time of the incident said, “Mommy stabbed Daddy,” according to the complaint.

Victim recants initial story

On April 3, 2019, CEK wrote a statement regarding the stabbing.

In the statement, the victim said he and Lyons had both been drinking.

They began arguing and CEK left the house for about 90 minutes to two hours.

When CEK returned home, he discovered he did not have his keys.

The door was locked, so CEK climbed into the house through the bathroom window.

He fell to the floor and Lyons came into the bathroom and began yelling at him, the complaint says.

She allegedly stabbed him as he tried to stand up.

Lyons criminal record

Lyons is currently on extended supervision.

She was convicted of a fifth OWI in Shawano County and sentenced on Dec. 2, 2016, to 1 1/2 years in state prison and two years of extended supervision.

In addition to her multiple drunken driving offenses, Lyons has been convicted of arson, felony child abuse, misdemeanor child neglect, disorderly conduct, obstructing an officer, criminal escape and bail jumping.

Since December 1994, Lyons has spent more than eight years behind bars, according to Department of Corrections and court records.

She faces up to 30 years in prison if convicted of attempted reckless homicide and 15 years in prison if convicted of aggravated assault.