Laramie Stabbing Suspect Appears in Court, Racial Bias Not Mentioned in Police Affidavit
Court documents reveal new details of an incident in which a former Laramie business owner was stabbed multiple times early Sunday morning in an alleged attack the victim says was racially motivated, but the potential for racial bias on the part of the suspect is not mentioned in the police affidavit.
Sydney Payton King, 21, appeared before Judge Robert Castor at 9 a.m. Tuesday in Albany County Circuit Court on a charge of aggravated assault -- bodily injury with a deadly weapon. If convicted, she could face up to 10 years in prison.
Castor ordered a public defender appointed to defend King at her request. Castor set King's bond at $15,000 cash and scheduled a preliminary hearing for July 19 at 10 a.m.
In addition, Castor said a hearing to set the terms and conditions of King's bond would be scheduled prior to King's release.
Court documents say King was arrested after police responded to the area of 7th and Mitchell for a report of a stabbing at 3 a.m. Sunday.
The first officer to arrive at the scene reportedly found the victim with stab wounds to her inner right wrist and her left wrist in the forearm area. That officer applied tourniquets to both of the victim's arms to stop the bleeding before the victim was taken to Ivinson Memorial Hospital.
Another Laramie police officer reportedly spoke with two witnesses that had been with the victim at the time of the stabbing. According to court documents, the two witnesses said a group of two white men and one white woman had been in an altercation with the victim and the two witnesses.
The police affidavit says the witnesses told officers they saw the victim in an altercation with the white female and shortly afterward saw the victim holding both arms across her chest and saying she had been stabbed.
Police reportedly found a South Dakota driver's license with blood on the back of it in the area of the stabbing. The license reportedly belonged to King. The officer who found the license noted that the physical description on the license matched the description given by the two witnesses of the white woman involved in the altercation, according to the affidavit.
The victim reportedly confirmed to police that she had been in a fight with the woman described by the two witnesses.
King, in an interview with the officer, allegedly admitted to stabbing the victim earlier that morning. The affidavit says King told police she had a three- to four-inch knife with her at the time.
Court documents go on to say King told police she thought she stabbed the victim twice, but wasn't sure where she wounded the victim.
In total, the victim was reportedly stabbed three times -- once in each arm and once in the stomach. According to the affidavit, the emergency room doctor said the stab wound to the victim's right wrist cut into an artery and was life-threatening.
Police continue to investigate the incident and the potential for racial bias as a motivating factor.
Laramie Police Lt. Gwen Smith says unless something changes -- such as additional charges being filed against King or one of the other people involved in Sunday's incident, or existing charges being dropped -- it is unlikely that further information about the incident will be released before the police wrap up their investigation.
"In law enforcement, sometimes things look like we know exactly what happened," Smith says. "But we don't get to jump to that conclusion. We have to have all the facts."