TAUNTON, MASS. (WHDH) - The Bristol County District Attorney’s Office released a final report on the circumstances surrounding the stabbings at a home in Taunton and at the Silver City Galleria that left two people dead back in May.
According to the report, Arthur DaRosa drove his car head-on into the car of Paula Giannini on Myricks Street, entered a nearby home, found a steak knife and stabbed Kathleen and Patricia Slavin several times. Patricia Slavin, 80, died as a result; Kathleen Slavin was seriously injured.
The report said DaRosa then fled the scene and drove to the Silver City Galleria, crashing his car into the Macy’s. DaRosa left the car behind, assaulted several women inside Macy’s and entered a Bertucci’s inside the mall.
Inside the restaurant, DaRosa stabbed waitress Sheena Savoy several times with a steak knife. Savoy was pregnant, but she and her unborn child survived the injuries. George Heath came to Savoy’s defense and was stabbed to death by DaRosa.
James Creed, an off-duty sheriff having dinner in the restaurant, ordered DaRosa to drop the knife. When DaRosa refused and moved toward Creed, the sheriff fired once, killing DaRosa.
In the report, officials said DaRosa was a 28-year-old Fall River man who was a de-leader for a company in Taunton. The report described him as a man with anxiety and/or depression and had recently broken up with an estranged girlfriend, Samantha Shaheen. The two had young children.
DaRosa was described as “manic and depressed” in the week leading up to the stabbings and would quickly lapse into “pure nonsense” according to the report. He also reportedly received messages from God or the devil telling him to do bad things. DaRosa agreed to seek mental health treatment but was skeptical because he feared he would jeopardize his relationship with his children if he was “crazy.”
One day before the incident in question, DaRosa called his half-sister, Kerri DeVries, and said he was considering killing himself. He was transported to a hospital on the afternoon of May 9, where he was evaluated and treated for anxiety and stress. He did not receive a prescription.
DaRosa was discharged from the hospital at 6:36 a.m. on the morning of May 10. Later that day, he arrived at Myricks Street youth soccer field for his daughter’s soccer practice, where parents overheard him talking to himself, saying he was sorry repeatedly and for no apparent reason. DaRosa spoke to one parent about God and needing to go on with his life.
At 6:35 p.m., DaRosa left the field and drove away in his 2010 Honda Accord. He crossed the center line and struck a pickup truck driven by Paula Giannini. Giannini’s truck rolled, and the woman received a severe cut to her right ear. DaRosa exited his car and banged on her vehicle, then entered the home on Myricks Street.
The report’s conclusion states that DaRosa murdered Slavin and Heath “without any justification or excuse” and that the sheriff was “clearly justified in using deadly force.”
(Copyright (c) 2024 Sunbeam Television. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)