The Michigan woman accused of critically wounding R&B superstar Mary J. Blige's father by stabbing him in the neck was ordered held on a half-million dollars' cash bail Friday on a charge of assault with intent to murder.
Cheryl Ann White, 50, of Battle Creek, was scheduled for a preliminary hearing Feb. 7 in 10th District Court in Calhoun County.
Thomas Blige, 63, also of Battle Creek, remained in critical condition at Bronson Methodist Hospital in Kalamazoo. Battle Creek police said White stabbed Blige during a domestic dispute Thursday morning after he discovered her slashing the tires on his sport-utility vehicle.
Mary J. Blige, the nine-time Grammy-winning singer who's widely reported to be estranged from her father, still hadn't made any comment on the incident by Friday night, more than 36 hours later.
No notice of the attack was made on her official website or Twitter and Facebook accounts, although hundreds of sympathetic comments were left for her by fans on Facebook:
Police said Thursday's incident appeared to be a domestic dispute, describing the suspect as Thomas Blige's former girlfriend. They said they had investigated seven separate reports of domestic violence between Blige and White just since August.
Friends and neighbors also told NBC station WOOD-TV of Grand Rapids that Blige and White quarreled frequently.
Police said Blige confronted White when he discovered her slashing the tires on his car. "During the course of the confrontation, the female stabbed the victim in the neck," according to an incident report.
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.