A Kitts Hill man remains in jail after allegedly beating and shooting another man early Sunday morning.

Thursday, January 31, 2002

A Kitts Hill man remains in jail after allegedly beating and shooting another man early Sunday morning.

Ernest McKnight, Jr., 51 of 464 Township Road 256, was arrested by Lawrence County Sheriff’s deputies stemming from an ongoing investigation, Sheriff Tim Sexton said. McKnight is accused of attacking Christopher Akers sometime after midnight on Sunday at McKnight’s residence.

Sexton said McKnight was charged with felonious assault after he made a statement to police and from the evidence gathered at the scene. Sexton said a baseball bat and a .38-caliber handgun were recovered from the scene. Both items were believed to have been used in the assault, the sheriff said.

Sexton said McKnight is housed at the Lawrence County Jail under a $100,000 bond.

The bat and gun have been sent to the crime lab at the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Identification and Investigation in London.

Sexton said that police have been unable to speak with Akers, who is being treated at The Ohio State University Medical Center in Columbus. Initially, Sexton said, Akers was transported to Our Lady of Bellefonte Hospital in Russell, Ky., transferred to St. Mary’s Hospital in Huntington, W.Va. and then sent to the Columbus hospital.

According to an OSU hospital spokesperson, Akers is listed in fair condition.