Youngstown man jailed on attempted murder charge

Staff report

YOUNGSTOWN

A Youngstown man jailed Sunday night and accused of stabbing his brother-in-law is set for a preliminary hearing Monday.

Christopher Adkins, 32, faces a felony count of attempted murder. His bond was set at $250,000 during his Tuesday arraignment in Youngstown Municipal Court, according to court records.

Adkins’ sister told police Adkins was abusing her dog at their Wakefield Avenue home and her husband confronted him, according to a city police report.

Adkins’ sister told police she attempted to call 911 but Adkins put her in a headlock and threatened to kill her if she didn’t drop the phone. He stomped on the phone, but the woman was able to run into another room and call authorities.

Police found the husband with several stab wounds to his upper body, according to the report. A witness who heard the husband’s cries for help told police they saw the man bleeding and Adkins holding a knife.

“Don’t worry about it – you aren’t going to be able to save him,” Adkins told the witness, according to the report.

Adkins was lying face down with his bloody hands behind his back when police arrived. The floor surrounding him was also covered in blood, the report states.

The husband was taken from the scene by ambulance. The report does not indicate his condition. Two children in the home at the time were removed by a neighbor and taken to a relative’s home, the report states.

Adkins pleaded guilty in 2015 to killing his stepfather in Columbiana County, according to court records. He was sentenced to three years in prison on a felony count of reckless homicide, which was downgraded.

Adkins was indicted in 2013 for the 2009 murder of Arthur Gilmore after a four-year investigation, according to 21 WFMJ-TV, The Vindicator’s broadcast partner.

Gilmore was killed by asphyxiation from smothering, a coroner ruled.

In 2007, Adkins pleaded guilty to three felony counts of aggravated assault and was sentenced to 4 Ω years in prison. But he was released in September 2007 and placed on probation, according to court records.