
NORFOLK — A 40-year-old man accused of stabbing his wife to death told a family member that he “needed to do it for the children,” according to court documents.
David Michael Tackett was charged with second-degree murder on Jan. 28, hours after his mother found his wife, Sophan Torn, bloodied and unresponsive on the couple’s bedroom floor.
Tackett’s mother went to check on Torn after a family member brought the couple’s children to her home shortly after 4 a.m., according to documents filed in Norfolk Circuit Court.
Tackett’s mother went to the couple’s home, located in the 1600 block of E. Bayview Boulevard. She found Torn lying in a pool of blood with facial injuries and called 911.
Police pronounced Torn dead just before 7 a.m. She died of multiple stab wounds, according to the Tidewater Medical Examiner’s Office.
A family member told police that Tackett called her around 4:12 a.m. and said he needed to bring the couple’s two children to her home. When he got to the house, he told the family member, “I took care of it,” court documents state.
“I know you think I’m crazy,” Tackett told the family member. “I needed to do it for the children.”
Tackett also called a childhood friend and confessed to killing Torn. He also told the friend that he was staying in a Richmond Super 8 motel, according to court documents.
Police found Tackett at the motel, located at 5615 Chamberlayne Road. He was arrested without incident and is currently being held in the Norfolk City Jail without bond.
A preliminary hearing has been set in Tackett’s case for April 6 in Norfolk Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court.
Mayfield can be reached at adrienne.m@wydaily.com.