A Georgia woman says that a man accused of killing a teen last month at a Walmart randomly stabbed her in 2021.
As CrimeOnline previously reported, police arrested 48-year-old Delano Middleton last week for an October 23 confrontation at a Walmart on Whitemarsh Island, around eight miles east of Savannah.
Police said 18-year-old J.T. Schroeder kicked Middleton’s shopping cart as Middleton walked by; the encounter escalated and Middleton allegedly stabbed Schroeder multiple times.
Paramedics took Schroeder to a hospital, where he died the next day, WTOC 11 reports.
Now, Erica Young says that Middleton attacked her with a knife while she worked at a U-Haul store on Ogeechee Road.
According to Young, Middleton walked into the business in October 2021, took keys from the counter and walked outside to steal a truck.
“I asked him did he needed help finding his vehicle, and he shoved a cart over on top of me and just started stabbing me,” Young said.
“When I was on the ground, he told me that he wanted to watch me bleed out. I’ve never met him before that day, never had any contact with him.”
Following a mental evaluation, a doctor found Middleton incompetent to stand trial. In 2023, he was ruled competent, but took a plea deal on an aggravated assault charge. A judge sentenced him to two years behind bars and eight years on probation.
Court records obtained by WJCL indicated that Middleton used a “six-inch foldable knife” during the U-Haul attack, before driving off in a truck he stole.
“Honestly, this is my true opinion on it,” Young told WTOC. “He got away with the stabbing of me, so he thought he could get away with it again.”
Chatham police have not released additional information regarding the Walmart incident, pending a full investigation.
Schroeder’s father, however, told WTOC that his son was “never, ever confrontational unless he was confronted first.”
“He was literally stabbed over ten times until he finally bled out and died,”his father said.
Middleton remains behind bars at the Chatham County Detention Center on murder charges. He is scheduled for a November 20 court appearance.
“The system failed that kid’s family,” Young said. “I’m so sorry for their loss.”
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