Background: The staircase where the attack occurred in Pittsburgh, Pa. (KDKA/YouTube). Inset left: Jasper Hilliard (Pittsburgh Police Department). Inset right: Al Carlson (KDKA/YouTube).
A man from western Pennsylvania has been convicted in a brutal attack against a 74-year-old man, where he stabbed the victim multiple times and pushed him down a flight of stairs. Prosecutors described the act as one carried out for “convenience.”
Jasper Hilliard, aged 24, was found guilty of several charges, including attempted criminal homicide, aggravated assault, burglary, possession of an instrument of crime with intent, and resisting arrest. This verdict comes after a legal battle that has spanned over three years, according to court documents obtained by Law&Crime.
On June 3, Al Carlson was walking the streets of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, when he said he passed by a man — Hilliard. “He turned and looked at me and says, “I got you,’ Carlson recounted to local CBS affiliate KDKA. “Then, he started slashing with the knife.”
In an interview with local ABC affiliate WTAE, the victim, whose last name is Carlson, recounted the terrifying ordeal: “He pretended to leave, but then returned and got behind me. I didn’t feel it at first, but I realized he had stabbed me again. Then he lifted me and threw me down the stairs, out of sight.”
Authorities reported that the elderly man suffered seven stab wounds to his neck, chest, and stomach. Fortunately, a neighbor discovered him and promptly called for emergency assistance.
The victim endured a lengthy recovery, spending a week in the intensive care unit followed by an additional week in the trauma unit at a local hospital.
Officers with the Pittsburgh Police Department arrested Hilliard for the attack, an assault they deemed completely random, and they say he confessed to it. The defendant reportedly stated he went after the man after smoking a type of synthetic marijuana called K2, and he did so “out of convenience.”
Hilliard also apparently lived in the area and was a neighbor of Carlson’s. According to authorities, as Carlson fought for his life in the hospital, other area residents saw Hilliard back in the city, with the defendant’s family obtaining the requisite money to get him out of jail.
More than three years later, Hilliard has been found guilty of the crimes. He is due to be sentenced in September.