Student faces assault charges after stabbing

Freshman Raphael Guidry was charged with aggravated assault on Jan. 29 after allegedly stabbing and wounding senior Cledell Brown last week, Lieutenant David Webb of the Office of Public Safety said.

Guidry was the initial suspect in custody and was still in custody as of Sunday.

"We presented the case to the district attorney. It's now in the proper hands as far as we're concerned," said Webb. "We made the arrest, we sent the paperwork in with the charges and now the court system takes its course."

Webb said that investigators received some credible leads from students on the case and that the Office of Student Affairs also played a big part in the arresting of Guidry.

"We received some information on a young man who fit the description of the aggressor in the situation and it turned out he was our guy," Webb said.

Webb said Guidry made contact with Student Conduct Officer Timothy Albert and Webb met with Guidry and his mother to continue the investigation. Webb said that Guidry's mother was instrumental in bringing Guidry to the university after he fled to Houston.

Webb confirmed that there was a fight earlier that Monday near Evans Hall that led to the stabbing later that night.

According to Webb, Brown was stabbed with a four inch folding knife inside the William "Billy" J. Nicks building soon after the closing of the basketball game. Brown suffered from stab wounds as well as cut wounds, Webb said.

As of Sunday, Brown was still in Memorial Herman Hospital and in stable condition.

Webb said his office is continuing to investigate the other members involved in the fight and that they have some leads and suspects.

Both Brown and Guidry may face consequences for violating the student conduct code depending on the results of the university investigation.

Webb said, "We're still investigating. We have some good information as to how the fights started so there is some culpability on Brown's behalf as well. As far as Guidry, his role also had to be looked into as to what produced such a violent act."