UT stabbing victim faces suspect in court
Junior Stuart Bayliss still recovering from wounds in May 1 attack.
Little by little, Stuart Bayliss is literally climbing the rope to recovery after a May 1 stabbing attack at the University of Texas left with him a gash to his lower back, nerve damage to his hand and a fresh perspective on life.
An athletic 20-year-old who participates in UT’s Marine Corps program, Bayliss is hitting the weights to recover grip strength he lost in the stabbing so he can participate fully in training sessions and climb rope with his peers. He’s making progress, increasing his grip strength from 20 pounds to more than 80 pounds since mid-July.
But Bayliss displayed a different kind of strength Thursday in Travis County state District Court where he shared a courtroom with the person who police say is responsible for his injuries, the death of another student and
injuries to two more. Bayliss told reporters he was struggling to describe his reaction to seeing Kendrex White in a jail uniform.
“That’s the guy who kind of changed my life,” Bayliss said.
White’s murder case continued Thursday with his defense team warding off prosecutors for a second time from appointing a psychiatrist to evaluate him. The state wants to assess White’s mental status on the day of the attack to prepare against a possible insanity defense. But Judge Tamara Needles denied the motion, saying she wants to uphold White’s Fifth Amendment rights that protect him from making a statement that could hurt his case.
Lori Brown, mother of slain student Harrison Brown, told reporters she hopes prosecutors eventually get to evaluate White, whose mental health will be the topic of another court session next Wednesday.
Bayliss, a junior chemistry major from Katy, said he was walking near a food truck near Speedway and 21st Street on the day of the attack when he felt a pain in his back. He turned to see White, who Bayliss said was “just really, really calm, like nothing happened.” Bayliss said he removed the knife, but White grabbed it from him and stabbed him in the hand, cutting seven tendons. Bayliss warned others to run and then took off to the steps of the Perry-Castañeda Library.
He underwent reconstructive hand surgery that lasted more than five hours. Scars zigzag across his right palm. He recently completed his final physical therapy session and is uncertain if he’ll need follow-up surgery.
“I feel like I’m handling it pretty well,” Bayliss said. “I don’t let it get between me and what I want to do in life.”
Like Bayliss, Brown had goals, which he apparently documented on a piece of notebook paper his mother found in the backpack he was wearing on the day he was killed. The paper reads: make music, move to Los Angeles, work in film, produce music, find a cure for ALS and be happy.
Brown’s father died in June after a long battle with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.
Brown would have turned 20 on Sept. 17.
Bayliss did not know Brown, but said he attended White’s hearing to show “that Harrison did not die in vain.”
“His life has a lot of meaning behind it,” Bayliss said. “I want to do something more in the future regarding Harrison and his remembrance. For me, now it’s just living and being there for Harrison and representing his life to his parents, family and friends.”