When deputies and officers responded to a stabbing in Lyons, they found a lot of blood and a man who said the resident had stabbed him. But the resident said it was self-defense. This week the man who was stabbed was arrested on two felony charges.

Rodney James “RJ” Hughes, 34, was arrested by Detective Shawn Cullison of the Greene County Sheriff’s Department on Wednesday, June 2, on a warrant that was issued for his arrest this week following an investigation led by Det. Cullison after officers were dispatched to a reported stabbing in Lyons.

Court records indicate Hughes formerly had a home address in Bloomfield. The booking record shows Hughes as homeless from Washington, Ind. But according to a probable cause affidavit filed in Greene Circuit Court, Hughes had been living at a residence in Lyons at the time of the stabbing.

The incident occurred on Sunday night, May 23. At 10:55 p.m., Hughes called the sheriff’s department and said he had been stabbed by another man at the man’s residence in Lyons, where Hughes had been staying with his mother who was the girlfriend of the resident. Hughes had been there since October. His mother had been living there for a couple of years.

Deputies and officers responded. Officer Alan Jackson of the Linton Police Department, the first officer to arrive, reported Hughes appeared to be intoxicated. Hughes was found in the driveway of the residence with a stab wound to his left wrist. Hughes was first transported to Greene County General Hospital for medical treatment then transferred to Methodist Hospital in Indianapolis.

When GCSD Deputy Zachary Goad talked to the resident that Hughes said had stabbed him, the man said he was only defending himself and the knife he used to stab Hughes was in his pocket. Deputy Goad secured the knife, a silver folding-blade knife, and noticed large amounts of blood in the home and in the driveway. The man’s girlfriend was also at the residence and Deputy Goad advised the couple to go to the sheriff’s department to meet with Det. Cullison.

Deputy Goad then talked briefly to Hughes at the hospital before he was transferred. Hughes claimed the man had stabbed him without provocation. He said the man didn’t think he (Hughes) was paying enough money and was not happy that Hughes was staying there.

Hughes claimed when he went to get something to eat, the man got in his face, then hit him in the mouth and then they went to the floor and were wrestling when the man stabbed him. He said that during the struggle, he heard his mother say the man was turning purple and Hughes said that was because he had hold of the man but when asked, said he didn’t know whether he had the man in a headlock or not.

Det. Cullison reported than when he interviewed the mother of Hughes, she said her son drinks a lot and an altercation started earlier in the day with Hughes getting upset and yelling at her boyfriend. Then when she had a couple of female friends over that evening, Hughes started saying things to her friends.

According to a probable cause affidavit, she said when her boyfriend came home late and sat down to eat supper, Hughes started complaining about not getting three meals a day. Later when the couple was sitting on the couch, Hughes came in and got in the man’s face. The man got up and walked away but Hughes followed and started pushing and hitting the man in the chest. They went to the ground and the woman said Hughes had his arms around the man’s neck causing him to turn purple. She said she was trying to pry Hughes off and the next thing she knew, there was blood everywhere. Then Hughes let go and walked out of the house, yelling.

When Det. Cullison talked to the resident, he had a brace on one arm – he said EMTs had told him the arm was dislocated. He confirmed the story as told by his girlfriend and said after he was thrown on the floor, Hughes started choking him and he felt like he was about to pass out because Hughes had his arms around his throat and his knee in his back. He said he managed to get the knife out of his pocket, and open, and he just stabbed Hughes wherever he could. He said he first just poked Hughes with the knife but Hughes did not let go so he pushed the knife farther. He said he could hear his girlfriend screaming.

Det. Cullison also talked to the woman’s two friends who had been in the residence earlier that evening. One confirmed Hughes was agitated and being very rude to his mother. The other said Hughes was disrespectful to his mother and she was surprised Hughes acted the way he did in front of the visitors.

A criminal case was filed against Hughes and a warrant issued for his arrest. When he was booked into the Greene County Jail at 1:35 p.m. on Wednesday, his bond was set at $14,000 surety with ten percent cash allowed.

Earlier today, Thursday, June 3, Hughes appeared in Greene Circuit Court for his initial hearing via two-way video connection between the jail and the courtroom.

He has been charged with:

• Battery – with a prior battery conviction involving the same victim, a Level 5 felony, and

• Strangulation, a Level 6 felony.

Since the time of the hearing, Hughes has posted bond and been released from custody.