Cape PD arrests suspect accused of stabbing family member in face

Cape Girardeau police apprehended a suspect accused of stabbing a family member in the face with a utility knife several times.

Byron Deshawn Gardner was charged with first-degree domestic assault and armed criminal action. He’s being held on a $25,000 bond. Gardner had pleaded guilty to at least three domestic violence charges before this weekend’s arrest.

According to a news release issued by the police department Sunday, Feb. 19, officers responded to an area hospital in reference to a stabbing and learned it occurred during a domestic abuse incident in the 100 block of Hazel Street. The victim had several deep lacerations to the face, police said.

The department’s communications center received a phone call giving a description of the vehicle the suspect was driving. Officers found the vehicle and detained Gardner.

Gardner pleaded guilty to two third-degree assault charges in 2009, and pleaded guilty to a second-degree domestic assault in 2013.