HAGATNA, Guam — Jealousy over a woman prompted a U.S. sailor to stab another sailor four times with a pocketknife at a hotel in Tumon earlier this month, according to court documents.
A witness told police that Jonathan Allen Cherry sought out Thomas Eugene Lawton at the Pia Marine Resort the night of June 6 because Cherry believed Lawton was trying to “pick up on a woman Cherry considered his girlfriend,” according to the magistrate’s complaint filed in Guam Superior Court.
When police responded that night, they found Lawton bleeding in a hallway with four stab wounds, including one that punctured his stomach, according to the report.
Cherry, 18, was scheduled for an arraignment Wednesday in Guam Superior Court on charges of attempted murder and possession and use of a deadly weapon. The Navy airman was indicted Friday on both felony counts.
Both men are sailors from the Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron 25. Cherry remains in Guam police custody. Lawton was released Wednesday from U.S. Naval Hospital, Guam.
Around 7 p.m. on June 6, witness and hotel occupant Luke Bawsel met Cherry and heard him say he believed Lawton was trying to hit on a woman Cherry liked, Bawsel told police. Bawsel and Cherry went up to Lawton’s room on the 11th floor, and Cherry and Lawton began fighting in the room, Bawsel told police.
Bawsel told police he did not see any stabbing, but later noticed Cherry had cuts on his right fingers, according to the court papers. When Bawsel asked about the cuts, Cherry said he had stabbed Lawton, according to the court papers.
Police found Lawton on the 11th floor around 7:50 p.m., weak from blood loss and needing a respirator, according to court papers. When asked who stabbed him, Lawton told the police it was Cherry, according to the court papers.
Lawton was taken to Guam Medical Hospital with stab wounds to his stomach, left hip, left chest and rib area, and his left kidney area, according to court papers. He underwent surgery and was in critical condition that night, according to court papers.
