Police rushed to Publix on Tamiami Trail Saturday night after a random stabbing left a 70-year-old man injured. The victim was simply shopping in an aisle when, out of nowhere, someone struck him on the side of his face. At first, he said it felt like a punch. But then he saw the attacker, Ramsey Lyons, 47, glaring at him with a box cutter blade in hand. When the victim pulled his hands away from his face, he saw blood. Lyons had stabbed him.
Police arrived quickly. They found Lyons standing by the entrance, hands on his head, and took him into custody right there. According to the arrest report, Lyons confessed. He told officers he suffered from an undiagnosed mental illness and harbored a resentment for “the 1960s era.”
When pressed about the box cutter, Lyons admitted he came to the store intending to kill someone. He picked the victim because, in his words, the man looked like he was from the 1960s. Lyons described the attack bluntly: “I just pulled it out of my pocket and stuck it in his neck.” He said he tossed the weapon down the aisle after the stabbing to avoid drawing the police’s attention.
Doctors treated the victim for a deep cut, stretching from his left cheek down his jaw, and across his neck. The wound measured four to six inches and needed several stitches.
Lyons now faces charges of aggravated battery against a person 65 or older.
