Attempted murder charge filed on What Cheer man

The Keokuk County Sheriff's Office has arrested a 27-year-old man after authorities said he tried to stab another man to death.

Johnathan James Ray Walker, of What Cheer, faces an attempted murder charge, a Class B felony, after Sheriff's deputies responded to a 911 call, around 12:40 a.m., Saturday.

When Deputy Jeff Runnells responded to the call for possible stab wounds, he located victim Joseph Barnado on the east bound lane of Hwy 22. Barnado suffered from multiple stab wounds as well as a broken arm and hand, resulting from strikes from a baseball bat Walker used on Barnado.

"When going to the scene, I found the victim on the side of the highway signaling for help, with a blood trail of nearly 100-yards from where he was originally attacked. Barnado had crawled from the nearby ditch to get help. He had lost a fair amount of blood and needed medical assistance," Runnells said. "The 911 call was originally called to the corner of 150th Avenue and Highway 22, the location of Walker and a female passenger, so I called in backup to help assist in the incident."

 Emergency crews transported both parties to University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics by Keokuk County Ambulance for treatment. Walker was discharged and taken into custody. Barnado was later discharged with non-life threatening injuries.

Officer Larry Alderson with the Sigourney Police Department and Adam Pence of the Keokuk County Sheriff department helped with this investigation. 

Walker is currently being held at the Keokuk County jail on a $100,000 cash only bond. Walker is presumed innocent until proven guilty according to the law.  

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