Cheyenne Man Accused of Stabbing Uncle Bound Over on Attempted Murder Charge

A 31-year-old Cheyenne man accused of stabbing his uncle multiple times, leaving him hospitalized, has been bound over to Laramie County District Court.

RELATED: Man Hospitalized With Life-Threatening Injuries After Stabbing in Cheyenne, Suspect Arrested

According to preliminary hearing testimony, police were called to a stabbing in the 2400 block of Pattinson Avenue at about 6:18 p.m. on Sunday, June 1.

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"Upon arrival, officers located the victim, Michael Owens," Detective Caresa Marino told the court. "He was bleeding from his torso area ... on the bottom of the stairs to one of the apartment buildings."

Marino says Owens was immediately taken to Cheyenne Regional Medical Center with life-threatening injuries, where he's still recovering.

She says the suspect, Owens' nephew Sterling A. Null, left on foot before officers arrived, but he was located shortly after in the area of Jackson Street and Ridge Road and placed under arrest.

Caught on Camera

Marino says one of the neighbors actually used his cell phone to record the stabbing.

"In the video you can see ... Owens standing on the corner of Pattinson Avenue and Pineridge (Avenue) and ... Null sprinting from about a block away ... up towards (him)," she said.

"Once he got maybe 10 feet or so, you can see (Null) extend his right arm back, you can see the knife in his hand, and then he aggressively and intentionally thrusted it into Mr. Owens' torso."

Marino says Owens was stabbed five times -- twice in the chest, twice in the abdominal area, and once underneath his left armpit, which punctured his lung.

Marino says Null, with the knife still in his right hand, then charged after his pregnant girlfriend, who was on the stairs, and a female who was visiting Owens, who was at the top balcony area of one of the apartments, but both females were able to retreat into two separate apartments up at the top and lock the door.

"After that (Null) proceeded to run back down the stairs and ... attempted to approach (Owens) again with the knife in his hand, but the neighbor who was filming the incident originally had grabbed his firearm," said Marino. "(Null) saw that, and at that point he took off on foot."

Why it Happened?

Marino says the whole thing started that morning. She says Null was arguing with his girlfriend about them living together and her feeling as though he wasn't "dad-ready," and things escalated when Null's mother disconnected his cell phone.

"(Null) got extremely upset over the cell phone being turned off, at which point he arrived on scene," said Marino.

"(In) another video from one of the neighbors down the street ... you can see him travelling (in his grandmother's car) at a high rate of speed," she added. "It had just finished raining, so it was slick ... and he crashed that vehicle into other family members' vehicles, to include the victim's."

Marino says Owens heard the crash and went down to check on Null, and that's when Null started sprinting at him and stabbed him.

"(Owens) did say that he believed that if one of the girls would have made it down there first, they would have been the target of the attack," said Marino.

Null Charged With Attempted Murder, Bond Set at $100K Cash

Null was subsequently charged with attempted second-degree murder and his bond set at $100,000 cash.

Due to Null's limited criminal history, his attorney asked that his bond be lowered to $20,000 at 10%, but Laramie County Circuit Court Judge Sean Chambers didn't change it.

Null's next court appearance will be an arraignment in District Court.

Please remember that all suspects are presumed to be innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.