JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – A 39-year-old man has been arrested and charged with murder in the March stabbing death of 50-year-old Patrick T. Pitter.
Police said Pitter and Marlon Dwayne Williams were playing cards inside the packed Eveready Caribbean Restaurant and Lounge on March 9 when they got into an argument and Williams grabbed a knife and stabbed Pitter twice in the neck.
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Police said Williams continued to pursue Pitter but was detained by witnesses. They said he broke away and ran out of the restaurant, got into his car and left.
Pitter staggered out onto Lem Turner Road, collapsed and died, police said.
The incident was caught on video, and detectives used that and witnesses to identify Williams as the killer, they said.
They were able to track Williams down after a tip from Crime Stoppers pointed them to Wilson and West 26th streets, where Williams was arrested without incident.
Just after the stabbing, a good Samaritan driving by the restaurant stopped to try to help Pitter.
"I seen a man running down the street, and he was covered in blood," Kent Hall said.
Hall passed Pitter while he was driving by, but he said he saw him collapse in his rear-view mirror. Rather than keep on going, he turned around to see if he could help.
Hall said he and a woman tried to help, but Pitter was losing too much blood.
"He was running and holding his neck, trying to get away and he collapsed," Hall said. "We tried to ask him his name and what happened, and he was just struggling to breathe. He fought hard, but he just couldn't make it."
Hall was there as Pitter took his last breath just as paramedics arrived. Pitter had staggered about 40 yards down the street.