PEMBROKE PINES, FLA. (WSVN) - A man stabbed in the face while visiting South Florida from the Bahamas is hoping his attacker will be charged for attempted manslaughter.
Harold Williams and his attorneys held a press conference Thursday to announce their request for charges.
Williams was visiting South Florida for medical treatment when he said he was stabbed by 24-year-old Fawaz Hassan on March 16.
“I have flashbacks of the young man. I see his face. When I sleep, I see the knife,” said Williams at the press conference.
Williams said he stopped at a sandwich shop in Pembroke Pines to use the restroom before heading out to the airport.
“As I walked in, I noticed the two gentlemen standing behind the counter, and I asked if it was OK that I could use the restroom,” said Williams, “and the younger person of the two very welcoming said to me, ‘Yes, not a problem. Come in.'”
Williams said Hassan then came around the corner and took off his apron.
“As I approached him, I felt this knock on the side of my face. I thought he punched me,” Williams said during a previous interview. “It wasn’t until I looked down, and I saw him holding a kitchen knife, 8 or 10 inches long, and then the blood started gushing everywhere, and I realized I was stabbed.”
Williams said he was wearing a blue baseball cap and had his cellphone in his hand at the time.
“My immediate response was to him. I just kept saying, ‘I’m sorry. I just needed to use the restroom. I’m sorry,'” said Williams at the press conference.
Williams’ attorneys will now be meeting with prosecutors because they feel Hassan should be charged with attempted murder or voluntary manslaughter.
Hassan has only been charged with aggravated battery, so far.
“There’s video evidence that shows my client entering the store,” said Jasmine Rand, Williams’ attorney. “There’s video evidence up to seconds before he was stabbed and seconds after he was stabbed, and it’s very clear that my client was not committing any crime, my client was unarmed and that this attack was unprovoked.”
Rand said she had gathered some evidence that suggested the attack was racially motivated.
“My only message to the young man who nearly took my life is that I pray that he changes his ways before he looks into the face of God,” said Williams.
Williams also wants the second clerk at the store to be charged for not calling 911 at the time of the incident.
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