A Gwinnett County man stabbed his son’s great-grandmother Monday afternoon outside a Lawrenceville DFCS office, police said.
Lawrenceville police Capt. Greg Vaughn said the 67-year-old victim was in a car with her daughter, granddaughter and 6-month-old great-grandson when, just after noon, they spotted the child’s father walking down the street. They agreed to give the man — identified as 29-year-old Lilburn resident Clarence Howard — a ride to Walmart if he accompanied them on their errands, police said.
They parked outside the Division of Family and Children Services office on Clayton Street, and everyone except for the infant, his father and his great-grandmother went inside, Vaughn said. Howard and the great-grandmother then got into an argument about “living arrangements,” Vaughn said, and Howard pulled a knife from the vehicle’s console and stabbed the woman “several times.”
Passersby saw the argument brewing and called 911, Vaughn said.
“She collapsed on the hood of the police car that was pulling in,” he said.
Howard ran across Clayton Street with the infant before surrendering, according to police.
“If our officer hadn’t been so close, right now we’d be looking for that baby and the suspect,” Vaughn said.
Vaughn said Howard has been charged with aggravated assault and third-degree cruelty to children. As of Monday afternoon, he had not been booked into the Gwinnett County jail.
The victim was in stable condition and expected to be released from Gwinnett Medical Center sometime Monday.
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