Judge Stabbed Five Times in Diner; Suspect Had Been Accused in Domestic Case
A man accused of stabbing a Kentucky judge with a steak knife while she was eating lunch in a diner has pleaded not guilty to a charge of attempted murder.
Judge Leigh Ann Stephens of Perry County was stabbed five times in the shoulder and arm while she was eating at the Circle T Restaurant in Hazard last week, according to local news accounts. “I could feel him hitting me, but I didn’t know he had a knife,” Stephens told WFIE. She told WYMT that her wounds were superficial, and she was treated and released at a local hospital.
The suspect, Ronnie Brock, appeared in the judge’s court in 2004 in a domestic violence case, according to the Associated Press, WBKO and WYMT. Stephens told WYMT she issued a restraining order against the suspect in 2004, but she didn’t have any contact with him after that and doesn’t know why she was stabbed.
Stephens was saved by a bystander, Victor Gainer, who shoved the suspect through a window and sat on him until sheriff’s deputies arrived, according to WBKO and WFIE. “You know I just jumped up, hollered hey and he just turned around and I just grabbed a chair and threw him through the window. It gave Leigh Ann enough time to get away,” Gainer told WBKO.
Brock entered his not guilty plea on Wednesday, according to Lex18 and WKYT.
