Charges laid in Eastbourne incident

Late Wednesday afternoon, Hamilton police announced the name of the suspect, and the serious charges he’s facing in that horrific stabbing in East Hamilton Tuesday afternoon.

Elise Copps has details.

Neighbours on this stretch of Eastbourne, south of Delaware, jumped into action Tuesday night, gathering blankets and cradling the baby until paramedics arrived. One block over on Holton where the incident began, families are stunned, wondering what happened to a man they thought they knew.

Neighbours are still coming to grips with the attack. They say the people who live in this house on Holton Avenue are an average family. Quiet. Yesterday around 4pm, police were called here for a disturbance. Witnesses say 18-year old Devona and her two year old girl Destiny were being attacked by her stepfather Steve. A good samaritan intervened; he ushered the women into his van and tried to drive to safety. But the attacker followed. They ended up on Eastbourne Avenue where Devona and her young daughter were both taken to the hospital with stab wounds. They are in stable condition. The attacker was arrested at the scene. He had self-inflicted stab wounds to his neck. His neighbour Eric lives two doors down. He saw Steve just hours before the attack. He was barbecuing in his backyard.

Neighbour Eric MacKenzie had this comment:

“Takes care of his family. You don’t hear a peep coming out of the house. Very much a… to me, he was a very nice guy.”

“For him to attack like that, it’s out of character. It just doesn’t make sense to me. Especially to hurt the young ones. It’s just out of his character.”

So Allen is charged with two counts of attempted murder and one of assault with a weapon.  When the attack happened, neighbours from this street and one block over on Eastbourne, where the event concluded, came to help.  They carried bandages, held the young girl until police arrived.  They were instrumental in saving her life and the life of her young mother.