11 years in prison for woman who killed her boyfriend because of drug treatment program

ASHEVILLE, N.C. (WSPA) – A woman was sentenced to more than a decade in the North Carolina Adult Correctional Institution after pleading guilty to stabbing her boyfriend to death at a camp in Asheville last September.

Kala Elaine Fralick, 28, who pleaded guilty Monday to voluntary manslaughter, was sentenced to 139 to 179 months in prison, the Buncombe County District Attorney’s Office said.

According to a statement from the district attorney’s office, officers with the Asheville Police Department were called to an encampment on Smokey Park Highway on Sept. 27, 2023, in reference to a stabbing. Upon arrival, officers found a victim, later identified as Dustin Lee Burwell, with multiple wounds to his chest.

Reports indicate that several people tried to help Burwell, but he was pronounced dead shortly after emergency services arrived in the early hours of the morning.

Investigators reported that witnesses told them Burwell was living in a nearby tent with his girlfriend, Fralick, and that they were walking toward the camp when Burwell approached and said Fralick stabbed him.

Witnesses reported seeing Fralick leave the scene without attempting to help Burwell.

Further investigation showed that Burwell and Fralick had both struggled with addiction and had been in an intimate relationship for several years. Investigators learned that Burwell had recently been accepted into an out-of-state residential treatment program and planned to end his relationship with Fralick to receive treatment.

Investigators said they believe the stabbing was prompted by Burwell’s intention to end the relationship.

During the sentencing, Fralick read a statement expressing regret for the stabbing but claiming Burwell was drunk and aggressive, which caused him to react in self-defense.

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