ST. GEORGE — An Arizona man is facing an attempted murder charge in Millard County after allegedly stabbing a woman seven times after she picked him up hitchhiking along Interstate 15.
Fernando Ray White, 38, of Sacaton, Arizona, was taken into custody by the Millard County Sheriff’s Office Tuesday morning after they were made aware of a stabbing victim who had arrived at the Fillmore hospital.
According to a probable cause affidavit, a sheriff’s deputy was sent to the hospital after staff contacted authorities. What he encountered was a woman – the victim who had been stabbed seven times – and her sister.
“I observed the wounds. The victim had a wound to her cheek, mouth with two chipped teeth, wound to the neck, wound to the right hand, two wounds to the left forearm, and one wound to the left upper arm,” the sheriff’s deputy wrote.
At some point prior to the stabbing, the victim and her sister had given White a ride and then left him on the side of I-15 five miles south of Fillmore.
Details concerning the knife attack were not detailed in the affidavit. A request for additional information for the Millard County Sheriff’s Office by St. George News was not returned by the time of publication.
White was found in the area of mile 157 along I-15 and arrested shortly after 5 a.m. Tuesday. Multiple law enforcement officers are listed as assisting in taking White into custody, though it is not clarified in the affidavit if he resisted at all or was taken peacefully.
During a search of the area, the sheriff’s deputy discovered a knife where they had originally encountered White. The knife was swabbed for DNA and blood by investigators.
Police also found substances on White believed to be narcotics, as well as a loaded 9 mm magazine and additional 9 mm rounds in a pocket.
White is currently on probation, according to the affidavit, and is also a person of interest in a homicide case out of Arizona.
White is facing multiple felony counts including attempted murder, drug possession and possession of a firearm by a restricted individual.
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