Murder Charge Filed Against Suspect In Attleboro Stabbing

ATTLEBORO, MA—A woman arrested in connection with a violent fight on September 11 is facing murder charges in connection with the fatal stabbing of a 28-year-old Attleboro woman.

Kayla Cantu, 20, who claims to live in Weymouth but has lived in Attleboro for most of her life, is scheduled to be arraigned on Tuesday in Attleboro District Court with deadly assault on Kimberly Duphily during a fight outside 6 Leroy Street.

Cantu was previously charged with slashing the face of Duphily's 28-year-old husband, Jacob, when he allegedly tried to intervene in the fight. According to Gregg Miliote, a spokesperson for the Bristol County district attorney's office, she is due in court on the pending assault case and will be arraigned on the murder charge.

Cantu has been held in jail on $25,000 cash bail and on a probation violation but will now likely be held without bail as a result of the murder charge. She has denied the allegations.

According to a September 14 press release from the Bristol County District Attorney's Office, Cantu and the Duphilys were staying at 6 Leroy Street when a fight allegedly broke out over stolen money and drugs.

Kimberly Duphily suffered from two stab wounds and was pronounced dead by emergency room doctors at Sturdy Memorial Hospital. Her husband Jacob accused Cantu of slashing his face with a knife. Cantu suffered knife wounds to her hand and immediately fled the area, hiding in a cluster of bushes. After being spotted in the bushes, she ran towards Bicknell Street and told a police officer working a detail that she had been stabbed. However, the wound was likely from the knife slipping through her hand. Both she and Jacob Duphily were treated at Sturdy Memorial Hospital for minor injuries and Cantu was arrested in Providence two days later for assaulting him.

The incident remains under investigation by city and state police detectives.