An Ava resident is charged with first-degree murder, armed criminal action and resisting arrest after a man was found dead early Friday, with multiple stab wounds and a knife embedded in his nose up to the handle.
The victim, identified in court documents only as a man, was located in the home of suspect Aaron R. Vaughan, 55.
Cpl. Aaron Williams of the Ava Police Department, in a statement seeking charges, reported he arrived at the scene at about 1:18 a.m. Friday morning to find blood on a vehicle parked in the suspect’s garage and on the walls of a staircase leading to the basement, where the victim was found on a couch.
Williams described the couch and the floor in front of it as having a large amount of blood on it. The victim had multiple stab wounds to his torso and left leg, plus a severe laceration to the face and another to the neck, the officer reported.
The victim’s body was sent for autopsy, Williams said, and Vaughan was found by officers near the vehicle when they first arrived. He reportedly had blood on his hands and arms and resisted being restrained, becoming belligerent during the arrest.
During questioning, Vaughan reportedly admitted he and the victim had gotten into a fistfight earlier that night that continued through the evening, but denied the altercations had been serious.
He also reportedly told law enforcement he suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder, but denied having blackouts or causing the stabbing injuries to the victim, though at one point he said he had to leave the room the two were in because he felt he was going to “k” him, but stopped short of the saying the word “kill.”
He said he then went to the garage and never went back down to the basement, according to court documents.
A preliminary breath test showed Vaughan’s blood alcohol content was about 0.169%, or a little over twice the legal limit.
He is being held without bond and as of Friday afternoon he had not been scheduled to appear in court.
The case is being prosecuted by Douglas County Prosecutor Matthew Weatherman.
