JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The Jacksonville Sheriff's Office is investigating after a woman and her ex-husband were stabbed early Tuesday morning in what detectives called a domestic violence incident.
Eric Grant, 39, died at the hospital, police said.
The woman, who was critically injured but expected to survive, has not yet been identified. But the Sheriff's Office said she was Grant's ex-wife, with whom he was living.
According to court records, Eric Grant and Stacey Ludden Grant were married in Clay County in 2006 and divorced in 2014.
Police said they were still trying to figure out who attacked whom during the incident about 1:30 a.m. Tuesday at a home on Springtree Road, off Fouraker Road, not far from Herlong Airport.
Police said the woman ran across the street to a neighbor to get help. The family inside was shocked by what they were seeing and didn't know what to think when the person at their door had stab wounds to her chest, shoulder and hand.
"My mom was, like, 'Who stabbed you?' She was, like, 'My ex-boyfriend, my ex-boyfriend.' We were, like, 'Oh my God,'" Alexus Brown said. "We just start helping her. My mom (and) I ran and got some gloves. We got her a towel. She was, like, 'Please, just hold it for me. Hold it for me.' That's when the police came and they just started helping her."
Brown said she was terrified.
"I was like, 'Please, Lord, don't let this lady die on our porch. We want to help her to best of our ability,'" Brown said.
Police said they are hoping to learn more when they are able to speak to the woman and were obtaining a search warrant to enter the house and proceed with the investigation.
"We are going to be out here for quite some time. There is an interior scene, there is an exterior scene. The weather actually may have been a factor. We had some rain that washed away some of the blood evidence, so we need to do everything we can to preserve that and get it collected as quickly as we can. The indoor scene will take a bit longer," JSO Sgt. Farhat said early Tuesday morning.
The Sheriff's Office said there have been no calls for service to the house in the past year.
Police have not said whether the woman will face any criminal charges. News4Jax crime and safety analyst Gil Smith said investigators may be able to determine whether she was the victim or not because of all the blood left at the scene.
"They'll make a determination on that after they gather all the evidence, see what happened. They may even interview other family members or neighbors who may have heard something or know of any history of domestic violence. So they'll take all that into consideration before they make the decision whether to file charges," Smith said.
News4Jax spoke to a neighbor who said he had no idea what was going on until he started watching the news.
"I know a lot of the neighbors around here, and you just don't know what goes on behind closed doors. It's horrible. It really is," Ellis Newsome said. "I'd wave to them as I'm driving by, but meeting them personally, no. I mean, I didn't know their names, or didn't know what their situation was or anything."
Newsome said he has lived here for about 10 years.
"They seemed like nice people. They'd always wave back when I waved at them. I just had no idea, you know, that it had come to this," Newsome said.