NORTH CHARLESTON -- A stabbing that injured two women at a North Charleston apartment complex was the result of a mental health crisis, the suspect's lawyer said during a July 8 bond hearing.
John Cameron Dobson, 21, allegedly stabbed two women at ICON @ Park Circle on McMillan Avenue the night of May 6. The victims -- a 69-year-old woman and her 20-year-old granddaughter -- were found just after 10 p.m. bleeding heavily from multiple stab wounds.
Dobson is charged with two counts of attempted murder charges as well as burglary, burglary tools and possession of a weapon. He was previously denied bond on his attempted murder and burglary charges.
A neighbor, Jennifer Young, previously told The Post and Courier she was sitting on her porch when the younger woman ran up and tried to enter her home. The woman was extremely distressed and yelled that she had been stabbed.
Young escorted her inside and as they discussed what happened she realized her arm was covered in the young woman's blood. Young called 911 and said she saw multiple deep wounds on the victim's shoulder and a laceration on her stomach. The woman told her that her grandmother was also stabbed.
Assistant Solicitor Andrew Hulshult said the women Dobson stabbed were his grandmother and cousin. He said that on the night of the stabbing, Dobson's mother arrived on scene and told police he had been acting strange. She feared he was having a mental health crisis, Hulshult said.
The burglary occurred around 12:20 a.m. in a neighboring subdivision, Hulshult said. A homeowner was awoken by Dobson standing in her bedroom. She grabbed a gun from under her bed and Dobson fled.
North Charleston police searched the area well into the morning, with some officers equipped with riot gear and rifles. Hulshult said Dobson hid at a vape store the morning of May 7 before surrendering to police without incident.
The solicitor asked that bond not be set until Dobson undergoes a mental competency evaluation, which his attorney, Melisa Gay, said has not had a date set.
Gay said Dobson's mom took him to the Medical University of South Carolina previously to try and get him help for his mental health issues. He's been diagnosed with schizophrenia and, since being in jail, has been prescribed medication for his condition at the request of Chief Public Defender Cameron Blazer, who is also representing Dobson.
Gay said her client's mental health struggles have been well documented. She noted that when Dobson was arrested and first visited by Blazer, he said "he thought he was God, that his father was Satan." She said her client is feeling much better now that he's on medication.
She asked that he be released to the care of his family, who appeared in the courtroom to support him, including his cousin and grandmother.
Ninth Circuit Judge Roger Young said that despite Dobson's lawyers testifying to an improvement in his condition, he denied bond until the results of the mental competency evaluation are submitted.
Dobson's family told him they loved him as he was taken out of the downtown Charleston courtroom.