Police make arrest in December knife attack

Published 4:46 pm Monday, February 11, 2019

Suspect was charged after deputies find stolen car

By Jeremy Weldon

Police have charged a Sardis man with the vicious Christmas season kife attack that left a local woman with permanent damage to her hand.

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Chief Steve McClarty said his investigators caught a break in the case this week when the Panola County Sheriff’s Department collaborated with Sardis officers on a reported stolen car crime in the county.

Officers arrested Demarcus Wilson, 36, on Tuesday after police were notified of an ongoing burglary of a dwelling in the 200 block of Juanita St. in Sardis. McClarty said the work of the Sheriff’s Department deputies, combined with tips they had received, led to the additional charges and aggravated assault for the Dec. 19, 2018 incident.

In that case, the wife of a prominent pastor in the Sardis area was attacked as she exited her vehicle in the 400 block of S. Main Street after dark. She was going to choir practice for a Christmas presentation when she was robbed and cut with a knife. The victim has reportedly undergone procedures to correct damage from the attack and will require more rehabilitation.

“We initially suspected the person that was charged, but we couldn’t get enough evidence,” McClarty said. “When he was arrested our investigators had the chance to sit down and interview him and that’s when we got the confession to what happened in December.”

Sardis Police Investigator Bobby West said Wilson has previously been arrested for domestic violence and other minor charges and was on the radar of police before his arrest on the latest charges. “We worked the case and had tips from the community also,” he said.

McClarty said although attacks like the one in December are rare in Sardis, especially so close to downtown businesses, citizens should be always be aware of their surroundings. He said police treated the incident like all others, hoping to get tips while working every lead.

“We don’t stop until we find out what happened and make arrests when we can,” McClarty said. “We work everything that way.”