Stabbing victim identified attacker before dying: reports

Jeremy Roberts, file image

BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KGET) – Time is running out.

Despite his best efforts, Terrance DeVaul Clark Jr. could not stop the blood from flowing from his neck wound; when he spoke, blood came out of his lips.

Mortally wounded, Clark manages to identify the man who stabbed him.

“Jeremy,” Clark told police. He did not know the last name, but said his attacker had stars tattooed on his face.

The name and description matched that of Jeremy Roberts. Arrested the same day, Roberts admitted to hitting Clark while he held a broken lighter with a sharp edge on one end, according to newly released court documents.

Roberts, 37, is charged with first-degree murder and is being held without bail. He faces life in prison if convicted.

A preliminary hearing is scheduled for July.

Around 2:20 a.m. on April 30, police were called to the area of ​​Tulare and Butte streets for reports of a stabbing victim.

A police officer found Clark, 55, kneeling in a parking lot with one hand pressed to his neck, according to reports. Blood covered Clark's neck and floor.

The officer also applied pressure to the wound while questioning Clark, according to the documents.

The injured man not only provided Roberts' first name and a description, but he also pointed out the area where Roberts lived, according to the documents.

An ambulance took Clark away. He died about two hours later at Kern Medical.

A hospital officer noted that Clark had a 2-centimeter wound on the left side of his neck, according to the documents.

A trail of blood led from where Clark was found to the 500 block of Dolores Street. Playing cards, a meth pipe, and a folded pocket knife lay in the middle of the street.

Video obtained from a nearby surveillance camera did not capture the stabbing, but it did record voices.

At 2:12 a.m., a man's voice is heard saying, “Knock yourself out,” according to reports. A minute later, screams are heard.

Taken into custody, Roberts initially denied stabbing Clark, according to reports. He told police he hit Clark in the jaw for money.

He later admitted to having the broken lighter in his hand when he hit Clark, documents state. He told police Clark was unarmed and did not attack him.

“Roberts apologized and stated he did not intend to kill (Clark),” an investigator wrote in the documents. “Roberts said it was an accident and he ruined his own life.”