Trending
A Webster County judge found a Fort Dodge man guilty of willful injury causing serious injury after he was caught on city cameras stabbing another man in downtown Fort Dodge earlier this fall.
Donathan Lynell Williams, 44, was arrested shortly after the Sept. 9 assault and was charged with attempted murder and willful injury causing serious injury. Charges of conspiracy to commit a forcible felony and going armed with intent were added later.
According to court documents, the incident was not a random act of violence.
City of Fort Dodge cameras and private business cameras in the area of the 700 block of Central Avenue captured the moment when Williams stabbed 47-year-old Douglas A. Foy in the abdomen with a knife, at 11:15 p.m. Following the assault, Foy fled to the nearby Koozie's Bar on North Seventh Street, where he asked several individuals to call 911.
When officers with the Fort Dodge Police Department arrived in the 10 block of North Seventh Street, they located Foy with a stab wound. He was then transported to UnityPoint Health – Trinity Regional Medical Center by ambulance before being transferred to a Des Moines medical center in critical condition.
On Nov. 17, Williams waived his right to a jury trial and asked that the judge determine his guilt or innocence on the willful injury charge in a trial on the minutes. This means that the judge rules on the case based solely on the minutes of testimony that are attached to the trial information, or formal indictment. The minutes of testimony are summaries of what each witness would testify to if called as a witness during trial.
In the five-page written verdict, District Court Judge Angela Doyle found Williams guilty of the crime of willful injury causing serious injury, a Class C forcible felony.
In the verdict, Doyle wrote that on Sept. 9, Williams enlisted the help of Trae Taylor to locate Foy because of an incident between Foy and Williams that happened the night before. Taylor sent a photo of Foy and his car in downtown Fort Dodge to Williams.
City camera footage showed Foy entering the Top Hat Lounge on South Eighth Street at 10:49 p.m. and Williams standing across the street from the bar at 11:02 p.m., Doyle wrote. After Foy left the Top Hat Lounge at 11:12 p.m., he started walking north on Eighth Street. Williams joined Foy walking two minutes later, and a minute after that the cameras showed Williams stabbing Foy.
Doyle found Williams guilty of the willful injury causing serious injury – enhanced for use of a dangerous weapon after a "full and fair consideration of all the evidence presented in the minutes of testimony." She also found that the offense was a forcible felony, meaning Williams would be ineligible to receive a suspended prison sentence.
The remaining charges will be dismissed after Williams is sentenced on Jan. 8, 2024.
Willful injury causing serious injury is a Class C felony and carries a sentence of up to 10 years in prison. At the time of the crime, Williams was on parole from another stabbing incident that took place in July 2020.