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JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. (WJHL) — A man and woman face attempted first-degree murder charges after a Sunday stabbing at a Johnson City motel.
Bobby Payne, 42, and Maria D’Amato, 35, both face charges of attempted first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit aggravated burglary, with Payne also charged with especially aggravated kidnapping and resisting arrest.
A Johnson City Police Department (JCPD) release on Tuesday said officers responded to a call at the Bravo Inn, 2316 Browns Mill Road, shortly after 8:30 p.m. Sunday, and found a person with a stab wound to the head.
The victim was taken to the hospital, while police were able to identify Payne and D’Amato as suspects. The release said police determined during a roughly four-hour investigation that Payne entered the victim’s room after D’Amato provided him access, though she wasn’t an occupant of the room.
The release said police also learned Payne later entered a separate room at the hotel and threatened the occupants there, telling one of them, whom he allegedly held at knifepoint, to speak with officers who were at the door. Officers entered the room through a front window, according to the release.
Payne and D’Amato were arrested and taken to the Washington County Detention Center.
