Victim in screwdriver attack testifies against alleged assailant

The victim who claims he was stabbed in the face with a screwdriver Jan. 31 testified against his alleged assailant during a preliminary hearing Wednesday.

Timothy J. McCall, 49, of Friedheim described the events of the early morning hours of Jan. 31. He said he picked up Hyman H. Hightower, 44, of Cape Girardeau on Lorimier Street. A woman, once romantically involved with Hightower, already was in the vehicle when they went to a friend’s apartment. McCall said Hightower and the woman started arguing in the car, continued to argue at the apartment and still were fighting when McCall planned to take Hightower back to Lorimier Street.

“He mainly wanted her to quit drugs,” McCall said when asked by assistant public defender Jennifer Slone. “She said he was doing just as many drugs as her.”

The arguing continued until Hightower, in the back seat, began to hit the back of the woman’s seat, McCall said. McCall testified he pulled over at Town Plaza near Rhymers tavern and told Hightower to get out of the vehicle. He said he then opened his door and Hightower’s door, told Hightower to get out again, when Hightower hit him in the head. McCall said he found out later Hightower stabbed him in the left side of his face with what he was told was a screwdriver. He remembers the woman screaming. He jumped into the back seat of the truck after she moved to the driver’s seat and then she drove away.

“I was losing a lot of blood,” McCall said.

McCall took a circuitous route to Southeast Hospital, first stopping at his cousin’s house on Illinois Street a couple of blocks away. Slone asked why the woman did not drive directly to the hospital.

“If you would have been there, it was hysteria,” McCall said.

McCall said he received surgery but was discharged after six hours. Slone argued the lack of serious injury was enough to lower the charge against Hightower to second-degree assault. Hightower is charged with felony first-degree assault, a class A felony that carries a minimum sentence of 10 years in the Missouri Department of Corrections.

“I woke up in the hospital, and the cops were there,” McCall said. “I don’t remember calling the cops.”

Slone questioned McCall about events surrounding the incident, starting with his relationship with the woman. McCall said they had been staying in the same hotel but in different rooms. He then said they planned to both go to St. Louis to work in construction.

“She wanted to earn money loading materials,” McCall said. “I’ve never been with her, never will be.”

Slone asked McCall about his drug use. He said he had used methamphetamine and had used drugs earlier that weekend but was not high during the incident. He said Hightower and the woman told him they used drugs when they were at the apartment.

Slone also asked about why McCall was in custody at the Cape Girardeau County Jail. He was arrested Feb. 19 for a probation violation with an original charge of stealing.

Judge Gary Kamp deemed there was enough probable cause to continue and arraignment for Hightower was scheduled for 9 a.m. March 14.

bkleine@semissourian.com

(573) 388-3644

Pertinent address:

1929 Independence St., Cape Girardeau, Mo.