Mother grieves son killed in apparent random stabbing in Phoenix
PHOENIX - A repeat offender is back behind bars after police say he stabbed a Scottsdale man to death over the weekend in Phoenix.
The suspect allegedly pulled out an 8-inch knife and stabbed the victim in a convenience store parking lot near 27th Avenue and Indian School Road in Phoenix.
Police say this was a random attack.
A mother is now without her son. She's heartbroken.
The victim, De'Kari Hamilton, 23, was getting on his bike and about to ride away when he was stabbed in the neck by someone he didn’t even know.
"I love you, De'Kari, so much. You are going to be so missed," his mother, Shlisa Miles, said.
She sent a text message to her son that night. A text he never received.
"I just know I told him I loved him, because we always told each other we loved each other before we leave for anything," Miles said.
Police say 37-year-old Robert Alan Downs was outside the store just after midnight on June 8. Surveillance video shows Hamilton making a purchase and leaving.
The two barely interacted.
When Hamilton got on his bike, video shows Downs going after him, stabbing Hamilton in the neck with an 8-inch blade.
The mother of five is still in shock from losing her son.
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"Numb. I'm still numb. He was murdered by someone he didn't even know for no reason at all," Miles said.
Downs is accused of first-degree murder. Court documents state he admitted to using drugs before the attack.
He was released from prison back in October after serving three years in Mohave County for counts including second-degree burglary.
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"He ain't just take De'Kari. He took me, and he took his brothers and a sister. Everybody that loved him. He took us all with Kari," his mother said.