ST. GEORGE – A Cedar City man involved in a stabbing incident last month was arrested Sunday and has been charged with attempted murder.

Ryanrigvez Frank Warner, 33, was arrested on a warrant Sunday in connection with a March 24 incident in which he and another man beat and stabbed a man before fleeing the scene. He has been changed with first-degree felony attempted murder and second-degree felony aggravated assault.

The other man, 19-year-old, Jose Gilbert Hernandez, also of Cedar City, was with Warner the night of the incident and participated in beating the alleged victim in the case. Hernandez turned himself into Cedar City Police custody the morning after the incident, Cedar City Police Sgt. Jerry Womack said.

Hernandez has was charged with a second-degree felony for obstructing justice, as well as a class B misdemeanor for assault. According to court records, Hernandez entered a plea of not guilty in 5^th District Court Tuesday before Judge Matthew Bell.

The original incident occurred at the home of Warner’s girlfriend in the early-morning hours of March 24, according to probable cause statements connected to the arrests.

Cedar City Police received the report of an assault at a home on 1350 North around 3:40 a.m. When the officer arrived, he found a man lying on the garage floor as a woman was holding a towel to the side of his head to stop the bleeding from knife wounds.

The man had received two stabs wounds to the side of this face and one to his upper chest. He was transported to Cedar City Hospital for care.

The woman, who identified herself as Warner’s girlfriend, said Warner and Hernandez beat and stabbed the other man before running away.

While investigating the scene, police officers saw bloody footsteps on the floor of the garage, as well as a shirt and gold chain necklace the woman said had been worn by Warner. Both had been ripped off Warner by the stabbing victim when they got into a fight, according to the probable cause statements.

The woman also told police that she and the stabbing victim used to be romantically involved and that he is the father of her 8-year-old son. Though they two broke up a year ago, they remained good friends, the woman said. The victim and Warner “do not get along,” the woman told police, and added that Warner usually carries a knife.

The stabbing victim had been hanging out at the woman’s house when Warner and Hernandez arrived. They started arguing and then moved into the garage to smoke some cigarettes. An additional witness at the scene said he saw the three leave the inside of the home and enter the attached garage.

“(The witness) later opened the garage door and saw (the victim) fall to the ground,” according to the probable cause statements. “Ryanrigvez and Jose ran right past him and out of the garage. (The witness) heard Ryanrigvez and Jose telling each other that they needed to get out there together.”

At that point the woman’s 8-year-old son came on the scene and screamed after seeing his father bleeding on the garage floor. The boy’s scream is what alerted his mother to the incident.

While being treated at the hospital, the victim told investigators Warner had hit him in the face and was soon joined by Hernandez. The victim started to fight back and saw Warner holding a knife, he said. He was stabbed and fell over while Warner and Hernandez fled the scene.

Warner is in the Iron County jail with bail set at $100,000. He has a preliminary hearing May 2 in 5^th District Court.

Hernandez was released from custody by the court and is scheduled to appear for a review hearing May 22.

Warner has a prior history of misdemeanor arrests, particularly involving drug possession, and had been on probation for related convictions.

Earlier this year, Hernandez was convicted of a felony drug distribution charge while a similar charge filed a few days later was dismissed. He has yet to be sentenced in that case, according to court records.

Persons arrested or charged are presumed innocent until found guilty in a court of law or as otherwise decided by a trier-of-fact.

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