STABBING RESULTS IN ARREST

August
19, 2019

The Bay County Sheriff’s Office responded to an apartment complex on Panama City Beach on August 19^th,
2019, in reference to a reported stabbing. The victim was found with non-life-threatening
injuries.

The victim told deputies he
had been stabbed by 24-year-old Sade Cawthon. The victim was transported to a
local hospital and treated for multiple stab wounds.

According to the victim and a
witness, Cawthon stabbed the victim multiple times with two knives as they were
speaking. Cawthon and the victim were not engaged in an altercation at the
time, and the attack by Cawthon was determined to be an act of aggression, not
an act of self-defense. If was also learned that an infant child was not only
present during the incident, but in close proximity to the victim and Cawthon
at the time of the stabbing. After stabbing the victim, Cawthon took the child
and left the apartment in her vehicle.

A Be On the Look Out (BOLO) was issued for the suspect’s vehicle to Bay and surrounding counties. Arrest warrants were issued against Cawthon for Aggravated Battery and Child Abuse. After subsequent investigation through the night and into the morning of August 20, 2019, BCSO deputies located the suspect’s vehicle on Highway 79 in Bay County. A traffic stop was conducted. Cawthon was driving and a child was found in the front passenger seat. The child was unharmed and was turned over to the Florida Department of Children and Families (DCF) in order to verify the child's well-being. Sade Cawthon was booked into the Bay County Jail on the warrants. Additional follow-up will be conducted by the BCSO and DCF. 

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Prepared by R. Corley

Information by Sgt. S.
Rhinehart
Approved by Chief J. Heape