19-year-old arrested after stabbing at The Crossing at Santa Fe

BY JENNIFER CABRERA

Akili Adhama Gray, Jr. 19, was arrested yesterday after a call from The Crossing at Santa Fe regarding a man who had been stabbed.

At about 11:10 a.m. on Wednesday, both Alachua County Sheriff’s deputies and Alachua County Fire Rescue responded to a call from the office at The Crossing at Santa Fe Apartments. They found a man there with a wound in his lower back that was bleeding profusely. The victim was able to direct deputies to the apartment where he was stabbed and provided a description of the alleged suspect. The victim said he was stabbed during an altercation with Gray over a beer.

Deputies found Gray in the apartment and reported that he matched the description given by the victim. Post Miranda, Gray said he and the victim had been in the apartment together when he took a beer that did not belong to him from the refrigerator. The apartment is listed as the home address of both Gray and the victim. Gray said the victim confronted him about the beer, and the initial verbal altercation became physical. Gray reportedly said that when the fight turned physical, the victim produced a knife and tried to swing it toward him, at which point he grabbed the victim’s hand and “redirect[ed] his efforts and energy back toward [the victim]” and that the knife then punctured the lower torso of the victim. The report noted that Gray’s weight is estimated at 90 pounds, that the victim is a much bigger man, and that Gray “admittedly had not[sic] formal training in hand-to-hand combat or knife defense skills.” Gray also allegedly admitted to trying to clean up the blood before deputies arrived.

The victim was in critical condition at the time the report was written. Gray has been charged with aggravated battery with a deadly weapon and tampering with evidence. He is being held on $125,000 bail.

Articles about arrests are based on reports from law enforcement agencies. The charges listed are taken from the arrest report and/or court records and are only accusations. All suspects are innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.