KEY WEST, Fla. – A male stripper from Tampa was arrested Monday in Key West after he stabbed his partner in both eyes and shoved a piece of wood down his throat, police said.
Justin Calhoun, 24, faces a charge of attempted murder in connection with the violent domestic incident.
According to a Key West police report, Calhoun admitted to attacking Mark Brann so severely that the victim was flown to a Miami hospital to be treated for his injuries.
Calhoun told police that he and Brann had a sexual relationship and that he often stayed at Brann’s home in Key West. Calhoun said he and Brann got into an argument because he believed that Brann was a “cannibal,” Detective Jeff Dean wrote in the police report.
Brann got angry about Calhoun’s accusation and picked up a gun that was on a bed where they were laying, Calhoun told police. Calhoun said the gun fired as he fought with Brann for the gun, but no one was shot, Dean wrote.
Calhoun said he took the gun and planned to shoot Brann, but the gun jammed, the report said. Instead, Calhoun said, he grabbed a pen and stabbed Brann in both eyes, the report said.
Then Calhoun stuffed a piece of wood from a broken dresser into Brann’s mouth “to silence him,” he told police, the report said.
Calhoun “stomped” on the piece of wood to lodge it further into Brann’s mouth, grabbed a drawer from the broken dresser and used it to hit Brann, the report said. Calhoun said he locked the door to keep Brann’s roommate from entering, grabbed his money and backpack and jumped out of the bedroom window while naked, the report said.
He was caught several hours later after evading police by jumping fences and climbing on rooftops, Calhoun told police, the report said.
Calhoun admitted that his actions went beyond self-defense, Dean wrote in the report.
Brann was flown to Jackson Memorial Hospital’s Ryder Trauma Center in Miami, where he was listed in critical condition.
Calhoun’s occupation is listed as a “stripper in Tampa” on the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office jail website. He remained in jail Tuesday morning without bond.
https://www.local10.com/news/crime/tampa-stripper-stabbed-partner-in-both-eyes-shoved-piece-of-wood-down-throat-police-say
