A 24-year-old man is accused of stabbing his childhood friend in the head with a meat cleaver at least 15 times, according to court documents.
Spokane police on Saturday arrested Praise Henry on suspicion of attempted murder outside the Broadmoor Apartments in Browne's Addition. Court documents say Henry repeatedly stabbed his childhood friend after a brief argument. The friend was taken to the hospital with life-threatening injuries to his head and shoulders. His condition on Monday wasn't clear.
Henry and his friend were all coming back from the barber Saturday when another friend overheard them quietly arguing in the parking lot. The friend turned around to see Henry holding a meat cleaver. Henry then struck him on the head multiple times with the cleaver, court records say.
Security footage shows Henry standing over the friend with the meat cleaver as he lies on the ground. The friend did not fight back, according to court records. Police noted Henry stabbed him at least 15 times.
Henry later ran from the area and flagged down a driver in a Toyota Tacoma. He told the driver he'd been stabbed and people were trying to kill him, court records say. The driver told him to get in the bed of the truck and he'd take him to the hospital. As the truck started driving, Henry jumped out of the back and started to run northbound on Monroe Street near First Avenue, according to court documents.
Dispatch advised patrolling officers of Henry's description, and an officer later recognized him walking eastbound on West Mallon Avenue toward South Cedar Street. He was arrested with a knife in his pocket, court records say.
Henry later told police during an interview that he had been friends with the victim since elementary school and recently met back up. The friend said something about having sex with Henry's sisters, Henry told police, so he "chopped him."
At the time, Henry had seven to eight shots of Bacardi in his system, according to court documents. He threw the cleaver somewhere near the Spokane County Courthouse.
"Now I feel sorry, but he shouldn't have said what he said," Henry told police in court records. "I chopped (him) up and I'm sorry."
A presiding judge at Henry's first appearance Monday called the allegations against him "concerning." Henry's bond was set at $500,000. He has 10 previous misdemeanors and 10 previous failures to appear, a prosecutor said in court Thursday.
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