Colorado man found naked in Castle Pines field accused of stabbing woman to death, injuring another, police say
A Colorado woman is dead and another is recovering in the hospital after the Douglas County Sheriff's Office says a family member stabbed both of them in a Castle Pines apartment. The suspect in the case is now in custody and facing multiple charges, including first-degree murder.
The stabbing happened late Sunday night in the Madison Apartments at Canyons community, just west of Interstate 25 off Hess Road, the sheriff's office said on Monday.
Douglas County Sheriff Darren Weekly said in a news conference that the sheriff's office received a 911 call just after 11:30 p.m. about a stabbing in progress in an apartment building. Responding deputies forced their way into the apartment complex after dispatchers learned there was already at least one person who had been stabbed and then forced their way into the apartment unit after seeing blood on the ground outside the unit, Weekly said.
Deputies found one woman dead with apparent stab wounds, and another woman who was injured after having been cut or stabbed, Weekley said. Deputies rendered aid to the injured woman, and she was taken to the hospital and is expected to survive. Investigators learned the suspect had fled the apartment prior to deputies' arrival, and a code red was sent to nearby residents.
The sheriff's office soon got calls from several neighbors who reported seeing the suspect, Weekly said, and deputies located 18-year-old Messiah Williams in a field about a mile south of the apartment. He was naked when he was located, but arrested without incident, the sheriff's office said.
No information was provided about the woman who died, and she'll be identified by the Douglas County Coroner's Office at a later date, but Weekly said the injured woman is 20 years old, and all three people are family members.
Williams now faces charges of first-degree murder, attempted first-degree murder, first-degree assault, and tampering with physical evidence; all felonies. He'll ultimately be formally charged by the
Court records were not yet available in this case as of Monday afternoon, and it wasn't clear if Williams has retained an attorney or when he's due in court.
Weekly lauded the deputies and credited their actions with saving the injured woman's life and went on to say that violent crimes are rare in the city of about 11,000 people. He also said there were no previous 911 calls from the apartment where the stabbings occurred.
"I can't praise their response enough for how quickly they got here, how quickly they made the decision to force entry -- not only on the exterior door, but also on the interior door -- it saved a life," he said in front of the apartment building, a broken glass door visible behind him. "I've been here for 32 years and I cannot remember the last time we had a homicide in Castle Pines."
Weekly said he doesn't believe there's an ongoing danger to the community, and investigators believe Williams was the only suspect in the stabbings.