CEDAR CITY — A woman is recovering from multiple wounds after she was reportedly stabbed by her ex-boyfriend the day after Thanksgiving.
Shortly after 9:30 a.m. Friday, law enforcement officers were called to the scene of a domestic disturbance in progress at a residence in a northern neighborhood of Cedar City. Police arrived to find an injured woman with multiple stab wounds, including to her face and neck.
The woman’s former boyfriend, later identified in court documents as 29-year-old William McAmos Means, Jr., was not at the scene when police arrived. However, witnesses, including the victim and other family members, identified Means as the perpetrator of the attack.
According to the probable cause statement filed in support of Means’ arrest, police found his SUV parked at a different location shortly before 10:30 a.m., upon which Means exited a nearby residence and was taken into custody without further incident.
According to the affidavit, police observed blood on the suspect’s jacket and also recovered a pocket knife allegedly used in the attack.
A sister of the injured woman spoke to Cedar City News via telephone on Tuesday and said her sister is currently recuperating from her injuries at St. George Regional Hospital.
Although the women’s names are known to Cedar City News, they are not being made public out of safety concerns for the victim and her family.
“The surgeons stopped counting her stab wounds at 16,” the woman’s sibling reported. “He sliced her neck first, and then he stabbed her all over her face and underneath her mouth area. Her worst wound is in her side, and he punctured her liver.”
The woman, who underwent four hours of surgery on Friday, is lucky to be alive, doctors told family members.
“The doctor’s exact words when he came out of surgery were, ‘Today was not her day to die,’” her sister reported.
Means has been held without bail in Iron County Jail since his arrest on Friday. According to the charging documents filed with the court, he initially faced one count of aggravated assault with injury, a second-degree felony. However, after further investigation by police, the Iron County Attorney’s Office on Thursday, Dec. 1 filed amended information that upgrades the charges. Means now faces one count of attempted murder, a first-degree felony, and one count of aggravated assault, a third-degree felony, with both charges carrying domestic violence enhancements.
Tuesday morning, Means made his initial court appearance in 5th District Court in Cedar City before Judge Ann Marie McIff Allen, who appointed Jeffery Slack to be his defense attorney. His next scheduled court appearance is a preliminary hearing and detention hearing scheduled for the morning of Monday, Dec. 5, before 5th District Judge Matthew L. Bell.
The injured woman’s sister told Cedar City News that Means had previously served time in prison in Texas for arson but was released less than a year ago after being diagnosed with colon cancer.
That information and other details were corroborated by an article published in February 2022 by the Everythinglubbock.com news website. According to that report, Means was arrested on arson charges after sparking a small fire with a cigarette butt in his family home on Aug. 19, 2019.
He then reportedly spent the next two and half years in multiple programs within the Texas criminal justice system before being granted a medical release in December 2021.
“If they wouldn’t have let him out, he would have been in jail like he was supposed to and he wouldn’t have been able to do this to her,” the victim’s sister told Cedar City News on Tuesday. “I’ll do everything in my power to make sure they do not let him out this time.”
Friday’s incident marked the second call-out in as many days for the Iron County Metro SWAT team, which was also dispatched to a residence on North Cedar Boulevard on a report of shots fired on Thanksgiving morning. That 911 call turned out to be a false alarm, authorities later confirmed.
This report is based on statements from court documents and law enforcement officials and may not contain the full scope of findings. Persons arrested or charged are presumed innocent until found guilty in a court of law or as otherwise decided by a trier-of-fact.
Updated Dec. 2, 12:30 p.m. to include information regarding upgraded criminal charges.
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