Woman sentenced after pleading guilty to fatally stabbing her boyfriend

ASHEVILLE, NC (FOX Carolina) – A woman was sentenced to nearly 15 years in prison after pleading guilty to voluntary manslaughter in the 2023 fatal stabbing of her boyfriend.

On September 27, 2023, Asheville Police Department officers were called to a camp on Smoky Park Highway in response to a call for assistance regarding a stabbing.

At the scene, they found a victim with multiple chest wounds and several people trying to help him. The victim, identified as Dustin Lee Burwell, died at the scene.

Witnesses told investigators they were approaching the camp when they saw Burwell, who said his girlfriend, 28-year-old Kala Elaine Fralick, stabbed him, officials said.

Officials said witnesses also reported seeing Fralick leave the scene and that she made no attempt to help Burwell.

Investigators learned that Burwell and Fralick had been in a relationship for several years and were struggling with addiction, according to the District Attorney’s Office.

Burwell had been accepted into an out-of-state residential treatment program and intended to end the relationship to continue treatment, officials said. They go on to say that his desire to end the relationship led to the stabbing.

Fralic appeared in court on Nov. 4, 2024, and read a statement saying she regretted the stabbing but argued it was an act of self-defense because Burwell was intoxicated and combative.

She was sentenced to 11 to 14 years in the North Carolina Department of Adult Corrections.