The father of R&B superstar Mary J. Blige was in critical condition in a Michigan hospital after he was stabbed in the neck Thursday, police said.Thomas Blige, 63, of Battle Creek, was in a Kalamazoo hospital following surgery, Battle Creek police said.
Cheryl Ann White, 50, of an address in the same apartment complex where Blige lives, was arrested at the scene. She was charged with assault with intent to murder and was being held in the Calhoun County jail.
Police said the incident appeared to be a domestic dispute, describing the suspect as Blige's former girlfriend. Friends and neighbors told NBC station WOOD-TV of Grand Rapids that Blige and White quarreled frequently.
Police said Blige confronted his assailant when he discovered her slashing the tires on his sport-utility vehicle. "During the course of the confrontation, the female stabbed the victim in the neck," according to a police statement.
Michael Thomas, Blige's roommate, told WOOD that Blige "heard some hissing sounds that he heard from outside, where the air was being let out of his tires." "He came back in and yelled for me," said Thomas, who said he found Blige on the kitchen floor, "bleeding profusely" from stab wounds to his throat, side and arm.
"I had to grab towels and cover the wounds the best I could until the rescue came," Thomas said. It wasn't clear whether Mary J. Blige, who is widely reported to be estranged from her father, was aware of the incident. There was no reference to it on her Facebook and Twitter accounts.
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