STRAFFORD, Mo. (AP) - Authorities say a homeless hitchhiker has died from a stab wound that he suffered while scuffling with a friend outside a southwest Missouri McDonald’s.
Twenty-three-year-old Jordan Smith has pleaded not guilty to charges of second-degree assault and armed criminal action in the weekend stabbing of 32-year-old Shane Young. The Springfield News-Leader reports that an assistant prosecuting attorney says Young died Tuesday.
Court records say the friends had been drinking before they scuffled in the town of Strafford. Smith told police he warned Young he would use “extended force” if Young didn’t stop coming at him. Court records say Smith then stabbed Young with a pocketknife that he’d just purchased at a nearby truck stop.
Prosecutors wrote in charging documents they plan to elevate the charges facing Smith if Young died.
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Information from: Springfield News-Leader, http://www.news-leader.com
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