Ten stitches is what Sedrick Jones needed in his right hand when he was stabbed with a kitchen knife at a University of Memphis Park Avenue Campus residence.
Jones told police he was stabbed over “child custody issues,†according to a campus police report written by officer Marco Anderson. Shawn Caston, 36, was arrested for aggravated assault during last Friday’s altercation, according to the report. Caston said he was defending himself and his girlfriend, student Niesha Robinson, from Jones who was “trying to barge in the front door†of Robinson’s residence.
Neither of the men is a U of M student. Derek Myers, interim chief of police, said that when police arrived, the two men were separated but the conflict was still “heated†and they were yelling at each other.
“The ex-boyfriend (Jones) was upset about custody issues,†Myers said. “The current boyfriend (Caston) decided to use a knife and was charged with aggravated assault.â€
Myers also said that since the two men were not students, they cannot come back to campus “until a student requests that the trespass be lifted.â€
“If they were students, nothing would be different other than they would be sent to student conduct,†Myers said. “It’s simply us telling them they can’t come back.â€
According to Jones, he went to pick up his 2-year-old son from Robinson, when her boyfriend stabbed him.
“I pay child support, and she still doesn’t allow me to see him,†23-year-old Jones said. “I went to pick him up and her boyfriend pushed us apart. I hit him, and then he stabbed me.â€
Caston said that the incident started when Jones tried to pick his son up from daycare.
“He wasn’t on the list, so the daycare called Niesha,†Caston said. “We went up there, and he followed us back to her apartment.â€
According to Caston, he grabbed the knife to defend himself and Robinson after Jones tried to “barge in the front door.â€
“I kept telling him to not go in the house, but then he left and went to his car,†Caston said. “I didn’t know what he had, so I grabbed a knife to defend myself. I was scared for my life. He’s bigger than me — like 300 pounds bigger.â€
Both men plan to press charges. According to Myers, assault calls to police from those formerly in relationships aren’t outside of the norm.
“Unfortunately, this is not uncommon,†Myers said. “We get assault calls about people who know each other and have been in intimate relationships.â€
