Rossville man accused of murder, stabbing friend about 50 times
Steven Lewis Whittaker stabbed his friend dozens of times and squeezed his neck until he crushed the man’s larynx, Walker County (Ga.) Sheriff Steve Wilson said.
The sheriff’s office arrested Whittaker, 58, on a charge of murder Tuesday evening after hearing a preliminary report of the victim’s injuries from the Georgia Bureau of Investigation’s medical examiner. The suspect remained at the jail without bond Wednesday night.
Wilson said Whittaker killed LeBron “Buddy” Hankins Jr. around 10:15 p.m. Friday. He called 911 about 30-45 minutes later. Wilson said he was not sure why Whittaker waited so long to report the death. When officers found him, he had a stab wound in his stomach, and paramedics drove him to a local hospital for surgery.
“The only statement he made, as he was being loaded into an ambulance, was that he was trying to protect himself and it was self defense,” Wilson said.
But Walker County Coroner Dewayne Wilson said the attack on Hankins was violent. He was beaten with stab wounds on his neck, chest and arms. He lay face-up on the floor, a knife next to him. On a preliminary review, a GBI medical examiner estimated that Hankins’ attacker stabbed him 50 times. The full autopsy is not finished.
“It was brutal,” Dewayne Wilson said. “I mean, brutal.”
Steve Wilson, who is not related to the coroner, said Whittaker was vague during an interview with investigators in the hospital. After doctors released him, investigators tried to interview Whittaker again around noon Tuesday. He asked for an attorney and did not talk.
“We haven’t been able to get much out of him,” Steve Wilson said.
Before the killing, the sheriff said Whittaker and Hankins were hanging out at Hankins’ home, in the 2000 block of Rogers Road in the Fairview community of Rossville. They were drinking beer and bourbon. At some point, Whittaker allegedly told investigators that he and Hankins got into an argument. He supposedly said that Hankins attacked him, and he fought him off to save himself.
According to Walker County 911 records, officers have responded to Whittaker’s house about 40 times since 2016. Officers arrested him on a charge of simple assault on Christmas Eve in 2009. He was found guilty three months later. In September 2016, officers arrested him on a battery charge that later was dismissed.
In June 2017, police charged him with aggravated cruelty to animals. That case is pending in Walker County Superior Court.
Steve Wilson said one of Whittaker’s arrests was for a previous attack on Hankins.