West Ashley, SC: Stabbing suspect located

Authorities say man killed woman in West Ashley

BY DAVID MACDOUGALL
macdougd@postandcourier.com
Originally published 12:00 a.m., September 10, 2011
Updated 03:41 a.m., September 10, 2011

A man wanted in connection with the fatal stabbing Friday of his wife in the couple's West Ashley home was found in Sumter County around midnight, authorities said.
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Chesley Black Jr., 29, of Fife Lane in West Ashley, is being held in the Sumter County Detention Center pending his return to Charleston County to face a charge of murder, said sheriff's Maj. Jim Brady, a spokesman for the Charleston County Sheriff's Office.

He is suspected of stabbing to death a West Ashley mother of two who was found in her home Friday afternoon, the victim of an apparent domestic dispute.

At first, authorities thought Black had driven away from the scene of the stabbing with one of the couple's children, a 2-year-old girl. An all-points bulletin was put out for Black and the 2-year-old, but she later was found at a relative's house in Sumter,

Once the child was located and found to be safe, authorities focused on finding Black. They broadcast a description of his car, a black, four-door, 2010 Nissan Altima with a S.C. license plate of EPY 454.

Deputies were called by to the couple's house at 2103 Fife Lane in the Forest Lakes subdivision about 4:15 p.m. for a reported stabbing, Brady said. The call had first been received by Charleston police, but the house is in an unincorporated area, so the county was notified. When deputies entered the house, they found a female who had been stabbed to death, Brady said.

Investigators put yellow crime-scene tape across the street in front of the house as they continued to interview neighbors, witnesses and relatives of the victim. Several neighbors said there had been domestic disputes involving the couple in the past.

Charleston County Sheriff Al Cannon was there, talking with relatives and witnesses. Two chaplains from the Coastal Crisis Chaplaincy helped distraught family members, some of whom came to the scene and began crying.

The Charleston County Coroner's Office has not yet released the victim's identity, but according to court records and to several neighbors, her name was Amanda Jo Kalman.



Photo by David MacDougall

Investigators had taped off Fife Lane in front of a home where a woman was stabbed to death Friday.
Neighbors and deputies said the couple had a history of domestic disputes.

In October 2005, according to court records, Black, whose address was listed at the house on Fife Lane, was charged with criminal domestic violence of a high and aggravated nature. The complaint against him was signed by Amando Jo Kalman of the same address. The charge later was reduced and the case was sent to magistrate's court, where it was dropped in 2007 for lack of prosecution.

Black was arrested in 2008 on a charge of possession with intent to distribute cocaine, but the charge was dropped in 2010 with the provision that it could be filed again, according to court records.

Several neighbors in Forest Lakes said Kalman grew up in the house where she was slain. They said they did not know if Kalman and Black were married. According to postings about Kalman on Facebook, the couple had two daughters.

Kalman's Facebook page has a photo of one of the children and is under the name, "Amanda Kalman Black."

"It's a big loss," said Tommy King of Forest Lakes Drive, who knew the victim and her children. "She used to come to our house and play. One of my daughters went to school with her."

According to an obituary in The Post and Courier, Kalman's father, Irwin S. "Kal" Kalman, died in 1999 at 47. He was president of Kal's Furniture.