LAKE ODESSA, Mich.
A 38-year-old Grand Ledge man is facing multiple charges that stem from a stabbing that took place around 5 a.m. Tuesday morning at the Lakewood Mobile Estates off Tupper Lake Street in the Village of Lake Odessa.
Lake Odessa Police say the suspect forced his way into a trailer where his ex-girlfriend lived, but instead encountered her friend. Police say the suspect and the 23-year-old woman from Sunfield got into a confrontation and he stabbed her with a kitchen knife multiple times. The woman ran to a neighbor for help and called 911. Inside, police say the man then went after his ex-girlfriend. Her three young children were also inside the home at the time.
“What his intentions were when he got to the house is unclear. but it’s clear that the victim was attempting to referee the situation if you will and try to prevent an altercation between the homeowner and him, and then he acted out on the victim,” said Lake Odessa Police Chief Mark Bender.
Investigators say it is believed that the friend was in the wrong place at the wrong time.
“He stabbed her until my daughter hollered her name and then realized he got the wrong person, ” said Joleen Judkins, who owns the trailer where her grown daughter and her three grandchildren live.
She says the issues with her daughter’s ex-boyfriend have been building and she had personal protection order against him. She’s sorry someone got hurt.
“He was abusive when they were together and that’s why she left him and then it just got worse, then this,” said Judkins.
The 23-year-old victim, who friends say is pregnant, is expected to recover. She is in stable condition at a hospital in Grand Rapids.
“She has quite a few stitches, but she is talking,” said Judkins.
A trail of blood drips outside the trailer are an eerie reminder of what happened.
“It’s scary, it’s scary to go back there,” Judkins said.
One of her granddaughters witnessed part of the scuffle.
“Two of them were sleeping and my three-year-old granddaughter was awake. She didn’t see the stabbing, but she did see him pin her (the mother) up against the wall,” said Judkins.
Police say when they arrived at the scene, the suspect had already taken off. They were able to arrest him after a family member drove him to a Lansing Hospital.
“We were notified that he had turned himself into our Lansing area hospital, where he tried to commit himself for mental issues. He was checked over and released and that’s when we took him into custody,” said Chief Bender.
The motive of the stabbing is unclear.
“He obviously had a motive to hurt somebody because he did,” he said.
The suspect, who’s name is not being released pending arraignment, is expected to be at the Ionia County Courthouse on Wednesday.
He is facing charges of assault with intent to murder, first degree home invasion, aggravated stalking, and a misdemeanor of domestic violence.
