Man booked into Weber County jail after allegedly stabbing coworker at Ogden warehouse

File Photo: Gephardt Daily

OGDEN, Utah, March 14, 2021 (Gephardt Daily) — A man has been charged in the alleged assault of two coworkers at an Ogden warehouse.

One victim may lose the use of her left hand due to her injuries, doctors told Ogden Police investigators.

Kay Karnes, 22, is being held in the Weber County jail. He was charged on suspicion of:

  • Murder, a  first-degree felony (likely to be amended since the victim did not die)
  • Aggravated Assault resulting in serious bodily injury, a second-degree felony

A probable cause statement filed by an officer of the Ogden Police Department says police arrived at the warehouse about 1:30 a.m. on Friday, March 12.

“Upon arriving on scene, I observed one of the victims sitting on a table with two other women helping hold a paper towel on her hand. I could clearly see that the victim was bleeding heavily from her hand and there was blood on the floor where she was sitting.”

Witnesses told the officer that two employees got into an argument while they were working.

“The arrestee, Kay, got into a verbal argument with victim 1,” says a probable cause statement filed by an officer of the Ogden Police Department.

“The argument became more heated as they exchanged verbally with each other. At one point, Kay went and grabbed a steak style kitchen knife with a black handle and serrated teeth. Kay then came back to the middle of the warehouse, where he began the quarrel with the victim again.

“Kay tackled victim 1 to the ground where he began attempting to stab him multiple times with the knife. As Kay was attempting to stab the victim in the neck three different times, my second victim got involved and intervened. She stated that she clearly feared for victim 1’s life and thought Kay was going to kill him.

“Victim 2 grabbed at Kay’s hand that was wielding the knife in an attempt to stop him from stabbing victim 1. After grabbing ahold of Kay’s hand, Kay pulled his hand back forcibly, cutting victim 2’s left middle, ring, and pinky finger.”

Kay then hid the knife among his other belongings, and fled the warehouse with another involved party, the statement says.

“Victim 2 was seen by medical staff on scene and advised to proceed to the emergency room immediately,” the probable cause statement says. “It was found at the hospital that victim 2 had deep lacerations to her fingers that cut ligaments in her hand and required 17 stitches. The doctor in the ER stated that victim 2 would need to be seen by a hand specialist and could potentially lose the full function in her left hand permanently.”

When officers spoke with victim 1, “he stated that he feared for his life and was deeply thankful for victim 2 because without her intervention he believed that he would have been killed during this incident.

“Victim 2 stated to officers at the hospital that she felt the need to intervene because she believed that Kay was intent on killing victim 1 and would have succeeded if she had not intervened.”

Karnes was later located by Clearfield police after the Ogden officer requested an address be checked out.

“After arriving in Clearfield, it was apparent that Kay did not speak English but his cousin stayed on scene to translate,” the Ogden officer says in the filed statement.

“Through the translation, Kay’s rights were read to him per Miranda and he verbally waived his rights. During the interview Kay stated that he intentionally grabbed the knife but stated that he had grabbed it only to scare victim 1 because of the fight that was breaking out. Kay denied attempting to stab victim 1 but did confirm that he pulled his hand back when victim 2 grabbed him.”

Karnes’ account of the incident was different than the multiple witnesses to the incident, who “all stated he attempted to stab victim 1 multiple times,” the probable cause statement says.

Karnes is being held without bail.

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