Ryan Florit, 35, has been charged with murder for allegedly stabbing and killing a man at Colonial House, a residential care facility at 26 Mississippi Ave. in Crystal City, where both men lived, authorities reported.
Daniel Hayden, 34, was the victim, Crystal City Police reported.
The incident occurred about 3:45 a.m. Nov. 24, when Florit allegedly attacked Hayden in his room, possibly while he was sleeping, the report said.
Crystal City Police Chief Chad Helms said the victim was stabbed in the neck and other parts of his body.
When police officers arrived at the scene, they found the victim lying on the floor in his bedroom “unresponsive and bleeding from an apparent injury to his neck area,” according to the report.
Joachim-Plattin Ambulance personnel arrived and determined the victim was dead.
According to the probable-cause statement in the case, the suspect and victim lived on the same floor of the building in different rooms. A witness reported seeing Florit enter Hayden’s room with a knife in a sheath on his hip and then leaving the room a short time later with the knife in his right hand. The witness further reported seeing Florit “wiping what appeared to be blood from the knife using a black sock cap.”
Authorities recovered the cap at the scene, the report said.
An investigating officer found Florit in his room and took him into custody. The officer reported seeing fresh blood on Florit’s shoes, jacket and jeans, according to the report.
Florit also was found with a 16-inch knife in a sheath attached to his jeans. The arresting officer reported seeing spots of blood on the end of the blade, the report said.
The officer also said Florit admitted to committing the crime.
On Nov. 24, the Jefferson County Prosecuting Attorney’s charged Florit with first-degree murder, a class A felony punishable by 10 to 30 years or life in prison, and armed criminal action, an unclassified felony that carries a penalty of at least three years.
He was being held today (Nov. 30_ at the Jefferson County Jail without bond.