Palestinian charged with knife attack on Athens hotel

ATHENS, Texas (KLTV) – A Palestinian man has been arrested in connection with a stabbing attack at an Athens hotel that left one person in critical condition.

According to an affidavit, around 2:15 a.m. Thursday, Dispatch requested all police units respond to a hotel in the 1800 block of East Tyler Street. Officers were told a stabbing had occurred, and the affidavit states there was a lot of screaming in the background of the 911 call.

Upon arrival, an officer found a man kneeling next to another who appeared to be covered in blood from having been stabbed, the document said. The injured man, Kristopher Hill, pointed to the door of a hotel room and repeatedly repeated, “He's in there,” the affidavit states.

Hill said he didn't know who else might be in the room or what weapons. The affidavit says the other man claimed he saw Hill being stabbed in the doorway of the hotel room, so he grabbed him off the floor and dragged him away. The man said he grabbed a towel and began applying pressure to the stab wounds.

Officers attempted to make contact with the suspect in the room, but the affidavit states they received no response. A hotel manager provided a key, and officers said when they entered they found the suspect had barricaded himself in the bathroom. Officers said they heard the toilet flush repeatedly and tried to push the door open, but the suspect kept it closed for some time. When they were able to enter, officers said they found Kerry Kenneth Barnett, III, 50, with his hand in the toilet attempting to flush “unknown items.”

Barnett allegedly struck the officers' legs with an unknown object, then was tasered and dragged from the bathroom. The affidavit states he continued to resist officers as they attempted to handcuff him.

After his detention, Barnett was taken to a hospital in Athens for evaluation. He was booked into the Henderson County Jail on charges of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, tampering with evidence and resisting arrest. His bail was set at a total of $82,500.

Hill was also taken to a nearby hospital and then flown to Tyler for further treatment. The affidavit states that as of 4:40 a.m. he was listed in critical condition and was still undergoing surgery.

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