Stabbings Kill One Teen, Wound Another During Fight At Party

A fight broke out at a party early Saturday, leaving one teenager dead and another hospitalized from stab wounds.

No arrests were made. The surviving victim, age 18, was reported in serious condition at Deaconess Medical Center following surgery Saturday.

The names of the survivor and the deceased, also an 18-year-old man, were not released pending notification of family members.

A witness said a series of fights erupted among the partygoers.

The fights spilled from the party house east of Hillyard into the street where the stabbings occurred. Police said the party’s hosts told those who were fighting to “take it outside.”

One of the assailants apparently armed himself with what appeared to be a kitchen knife, said neighbor Jack Wheeler, who saw the incident from his porch.

He said the fighters, maybe four of them, swirled down the street in front of his house as a crowd pressed to watch.

It appeared the murder victim was stabbed in the lower right side, but was still standing from the mortal wound, Wheeler said.

One source familiar with the case said the man was stabbed to death when he intervened to protect his friend.

Friends of the victim loaded him into a car and sped away from the party house at 4003 E. Wellesley. He was taken to a fire station on Bigelow Gulch Road. Officers and medics were called there about 1:30 a.m. The victim was airlifted to Deaconess, but was dead on arrival.

The second victim was found by police lying on the ground in the 3800 block of East Broad. Police did not say how he got to that location. He was stabbed in the back.

Neither of the stabbing victims lived at the party house.

That home was occupied by four young men in their late teens or early 20s, Wheeler said.

Police said the four men threw what they hoped would be a smaller party, but more people showed up than expected.

Wheeler said he went to the party early in the evening for a short time. One of the hosts told Wheeler that a lot of the guests were unfamiliar to him.

As the party became violent, Wheeler said he had to help break up one fight prior to the fatal stabbing.

About a dozen of the partygoers were taken to the police station for interviews. Police searched the home where the party was held, and temporarily blocked off streets to look for evidence.

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