Yesterday afternoon, a 29-year-old woman pushing her child in a stroller at the Middletown, NJ Bed, Bath and Beyond was stabbed multiple times by a man. Witnesses say the suspect, Tyrik Haynes, suddenly ran up to the victim, Kerri Dalton, and attacked her.
A nearby store manager told WCBS 2, "He was a guy with a hood and then he walked over there and came like nothing happened and walked over that way and then the lady came screaming saying, ‘can you help me, can you help me, the lady got stabbed.'" Then, Haynes, 19, allegedly calmly walked out of the store. Police say it appears that Dalton did not know Haynes.
Dalton suffered punctured lungs and was taken to the hospital.
Haynes was arrested and charged with first degree attempted murder, with his bail set at $1 million. It turns out that last month, he was arrested for allegedly setting a cat on fire. The Asbury Park-Press reports, "[Buddy] Amato [of the Monmouth County SPCA] said Haynes received two cats through Internet connections, and carried them in cat carriers to a wooded area by his house on Christmas Eve. Around 8:30 p.m., Haynes used matches to light the spray from an aerosol spray can, and then pointed the spray at one of the cats in a carrier, lighting it on fire, Amato said. He then opened the crate and watched the cat run off, Amato said."
Update: Haynes was a familiar face to workers at the Petco near the Bed, Bath and Beyond. According to WCBS 2, "Workers at a nearby Petco said he often went in to look at the animals." An earlier report said that Haynes had adopted a cat from the Petco; a Petco spokesperson says that'd not true—in fact, Petco's adoption partner at the store determined that "he did not meet their qualifications for adoption. He did not receive a cat from Furr Friends in Need or Petco. We take the health and well-being of animals very seriously as do our adoption partners."
