Mugshot of Lionel Williams Sr. Photo Credit: THE VIRGIN ISLANDS POLICE DEPARTMENT
ST. THOMAS — A man is facing an assault charge after allegedly stabbing his stepson during a dispute over accidentally stepping on a puppy.
On March 28, police were dispatched to Jode Gade after being told that a father and stepson had gotten into an altercation which involved a knife. En route, the responding officers were told that the stepson had been stabbed and that the two men were still fighting in the road. Police found the pair still grappling with each other while a VIPD officer already on scene was trying to control them.
The older man, Lionel Williams Sr., was detained and placed in the back of the police unit in the interim. The stepson was dripping blood from a blade which was stuck in his right hand, its handle on the ground nearby. He was transported to the Schneider Regional Medical Center for treatment, and so was Williams after he complained of back and shoulder pains.
At the hospital, the man with the stab wound told police that he was tending to his puppies in his yard when his stepfather Lionel Williams arrived. He and Williams reportedly got into an argument after Williams stepped on one of the puppies. While they were arguing, the man said that Williams approached him, put his hand around his shoulder and pulled a knife out of his waistband. He initially believed that Williams had struck him in the stomach.
Police say the man told them that at that point, he backed away from Williams, asking if he was serious. Williams reportedly ignored the man and continued approaching him, knife in hand. The man says he attempted to arm himself with a small stick but it broke before he could use it to defend himself. As he continued to back away from his attacker, the man says he fell and Williams stood over him.
Documents presented in court allege that Williams made multiple attempts to stab the man which failed due to the knife's dullness. The man told police that he continued to dodge Williams’s attacks while on the ground, even at one point trying to grab the knife from his alleged assailant. He held onto the weapon and was cut in the process.
Not even the entreaties of a neighbor could get Williams to relent; the two were only separated after the police arrived, according to court documents. The man told police that he believed Williams had attacked him because of a disagreement he had with Williams’s biological son.
Police noted the lacerations to the man's abdomen and left arm. There was also a laceration on his right hand between his middle and index fingers which doctors said would require surgery.
When police met with Williams, he acknowledged getting into an argument with his stepson when he went into the back yard to feed his grandson's dog and accidentally stepped on one of the stepson's pup. The man, Williams said, began to curse at him, and then informed him that he was going to get something to come back.
Upon leaving through the side gate, Williams said he was approached by the man who was now carrying a piece of wood. Williams claimed that the man struck him two or three times with the piece of wood, and it was only then that he pulled out the knife from his waistband in self defense.
Williams told responding officers that upon being confronted with the bladed weapon, the man began to retreat and dropped the piece of wood. Before he could even strike out, Williams said, his stepson lunged at him, trying to take the knife out of his hands. According to Williams, they began struggling for control of the knife and he held on to its handle, fearing that the man would use it on him.
Williams was found to have strained his left arm and sustained an abrasion to his right elbow. He was treated at the medical center and then arrested and charged with third-degree assault.
According to information from the court’s public access database, Williams was granted pre-trial release in this matter.
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