Holy Cow. A brawl between women at Hartigan’s ended in a stabbing death early this morning and get this — the weapon of choice was a bottle. The fatal stab wounds were delivered via bottle to the stomach and the neck by an attacker named Katie.
Left out of this story, but well known to long-time uptowners like myself is that Hartigan’s is a lesbian bar that caters to an, um, rougher, shall we say more streetwise brand of lesbian. Think biker bar without the bikes. It’s perfectly serene for lunch, which my father and I had there often, but gets more colorful as the night wears on.
Much of the local media, including the Observer, has thus far carefully left out the part about Hartigan’s being a landmark gay bar. Oddly, the most candid description of what actually went down has come from qnotes, the gay publication of record in Charlotte.
CHARLOTTE — Police have charged a woman with murder for a stabbing that left another woman dead in the early morning hours of Dec. 4 outside of Hartigan’s Irish Pub, a local gay and lesbian restaurant and bar in Uptown at 601 S. Cedar St.
Katie Nicole Robinson, in a Dec. 4 arrest photo.
According to police, witnesses say a fight between a group of women began in the establishment’s bathroom. It then continued outside of the bar where the victim, 30-year-old Antoinette Latoya Baker, was stabbed. Officers were called at 2:21 a.m. and found Baker lying unresponsive near the parking lot. She was transported to Carolinas Medical Center where she was pronounced deceased shortly after arrival.
The suspect, 32-year-old Katie Nicole Robinson, remained on the scene and was transported to police headquarters for questioning, along with several witnesses.
Robinson has been charged with murder. She is being held without bond at the Mecklenburg County jail.
Robinson has several prior arrests, including a June 11 arrest for breaking and entering, and damage and injury to real and personal property. She was also arrested on July 8 for communicating threats, harassing phone calls and injury to personal property. She was again arrested Aug. 6 for assault and injury to personal property.
Police spokesperson Robert Fey did not release information on what triggered the argument between Robinson and Baker but said the two did not previously know each other.
WCNC reports that Robinson stabbed Baker with a bottle in the stomach and neck.
qnotes reached out to Hartigan’s co-owner Jill Phillips but she has yet to return our phone calls
Bonus Observation: You can tell the posters below who haven’t actually read the post. The clue that they haven’t actually read it is that they bash the author for never having visited Hartigan’s. Given the addictive quality of their burgers, I’ve dined there, picked up to go orders, and yes even gone out there for a beer with a friend during the day and at night on a regular basis on and off for years. I lived in the neighborhood for years, and the bar is generally pretty safe. The blog post never implied that it wasn’t, another clue that posters didn’t read it before posting.
What I think they really resent is the pointing out of facts that 1) this was an incredibly violent attack and 2) it happened at a gay (mostly lesbian) bar that on any other day of the year would be proud to be known as uptown’s iconic lesbian hotspot. They can’t have it both ways. Proceed.
