Suspect arrested in connection with stabbing of woman downtown, Wichita police say

Police have arrested a person they think was involved in a stabbing that occurred Sunday near downtown, according to Wichita police spokesperson Paul Cruz.

Jeffery Elam was arrested Monday on unrelated warrants through the state as well as a domestic violence warrant, Cruz said. The 27-year-old parolee has a 2015 conviction in Sedgwick County for aggravated indecent liberties with a child under the age of 14, according to the Kansas Department of Corrections.

On Monday, police posted a video on Facebook of a person they believed to be involved in the stabbing of a 22-year-old woman. In the video, the person is walking down the sidewalk with their hands in their pocket and wearing a white mask.

“The investigation revealed the victim was walking to her vehicle and was approached and stabbed by a Elam, who fled northbound through the alley,” Cruz said in a news release.

The woman, who was stabbed in the abdomen, was taken to an area hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. Police said the stabbing happened around midnight Sunday in the 100 block of North St. Francis, which is near Douglas.

Police are still investigating what led to the stabbing, Cruz said, but it doesn’t appear that the victim knew the person who attacked her.

Elam was arrested Monday night after officers found him near Broadway and Central, Cruz said.

Elam has roughly 70 disciplinary reports from his time in prison. The first report was in June 2016 and the last occurred in June this year, KDOC records show. The reports include contraband, arson, battery, assault and fighting.

This story was originally published November 23, 2021 at 9:13 AM.