Roommate: Man who stabbed Lansing Township woman in the neck 'must have snapped'

LANSING TWP. — Janice Dugger and the man accused of killing her were both violent people, Dugger's roommate, Steve Gochberg, said. 

The man, Antonio Lavoy, was a cage fighter who had brain damage after being in a coma for three weeks after a fight. 

Dugger had attacked Lavoy several years ago, leaving him with injuries severe enough to warrant attempted murder charges, Gochberg told the State Journal.

Neither reported it to police. 

Lavoy had never believed in hitting women, but, Tuesday night, "he must have snapped," Gochberg said. 

That night, "(Lavoy) said 'She stabbed me in the thigh, she hit me in the face with a golf club. I should murder her,'" Gochberg said. "And I said 'Yeah you should. I'd hit her in the face, but that's me.'"

Just before midnight Tuesday, Gochberg said, he heard the pair arguing. When it went quiet, he went to check on them and found that Duggar had been stabbed, he said. 

Police say Dugger, 55, was killed Wednesday between midnight and 12:30 a.m. in the 200 block of S. Homer Street in Lansing Township.

Lavoy, 42, is in custody in connection with her death. He was charged with murder Thursday, and has a preliminary exam conference scheduled for April 18. 

Gochberg said Dugger was starting to bloom and that she had been "much nicer than normal" before her death. 

"I was in shock that he would do that," Gochberg said. "For the longest time, I thought he would never lay a hand on a woman. 

"Why did he have to stab her to death? Hit her once, go to jail and call it a day." 

Contact Kara Berg at 517-377-1113 or kberg@lsj.com. Follow her on Twitter @karaberg95.