PORT ST. LUCIE – A 44-year-old Port St. Lucie man was arrested on attempted homicide and aggravated battery charges on Sept. 27 after he called police to say that he stabbed someone, according to police reports.
At about 11:01 p.m., on Sept. 27, St. Lucie County Communications received a 911 call from a man saying that he just stabbed a 79-year-old man inside a home in the 11200 block of Northwest Blockbird Drive, Port St. Lucie, according to police reports.
The man, later identified as Cartavion Jermain Merritt, told dispatchers that he used two knives to stab the victim in the chest and said that he wanted to kill the victim.
Merritt also said that he and the victim were the only two people inside the residence and that Merritt put the two knives used during the stabbing in the kitchen sink, according to police reports.
When officers arrived, Merritt came out of the house at 11:09 p.m., and was taken into custody without incident.
Officers then went inside the house and found the victim suffering from three stab wounds to the upper chest.
Officers and paramedics began providing life-saving medical care. Because of the severity of his injuries, the victim was designated as a trauma alert and airlifted to HCA Florida Lawnwood Hospital in Fort Pierce. He was later reported to be in stable condition while intubated, according to police reports.
Officers found two knives in the sink and discovered that the stabbing happened in a bedroom where blood was seen on the sheets, according to police reports.
Merritt was taken to the Port St. Lucie Police Department where, during a recorded interview, Merritt admitted that he intended to kill the victim.
Merritt was charged with attempted homicide — murder, dangerous, depraved without premeditation (domestic); and aggravated battery on a person, 65 or older. He was booked into the St. Lucie County Jail where he remained as of Sept. 28 on no bond, according to the jail web site.
The investigation is continuing.