76-year-old arrested after fatal stabbing

Apr. 7—Around 4:20 p.m. March 27, residents of a south Scottsdale trailer park answered a bang on their door.

They opened it, finding Timothy Grant.

The 76-year-old man was covered in blood — not his own.

"He came at me — so I stabbed him," Grant told his neighbors.

After neighbors called 911, responding officers at the Riviera Mobile Home Park near McKellips and Hayden roads in south Scottsdale found a large, bloody knife — and 69-year-old David Ricks, unconscious inside his trailer home.

Neighbors who are nurses were attempting to save the man's life. They moved aside as police and fire personnel took over, rushing Ricks to the hospital.

He was pronounced dead less than two hours after the emergency call.

Grant told a responding officer he and his roommate were drinking in a bar for most of the afternoon.

When they got back to the trailer, they started arguing.

"I don't remember about what," Grant told police.

He said after Ricks picked up a knife and threatened him, he punched his roommate in the face, knocking him down.

Ricks got up and screamed "I"m going to kill you," according to Grant, who told the officer Ricks tried to stab him.

"I grabbed the hand with the knife and turned the knife into his stomach," Grant said.

According to the police report, Ricks had a stab wound through his abdomen that pierced his liver — and another through the chest that punctured his lung.

The victim had another small puncture near his shoulder and scratches on his face, as well as a "defensive wound" on his left thumb.

When Grant was interviewed by a second officer, he gave a different version of the story, saying he and his roommate were in a wrestling match.

He then said he must have blacked out and did not recall Ricks being stabbed.

Grant and neighbors told police the elderly roommates had tussled in the past.

The two had been roommates for over 10 years.

Grant, an Army veteran with no prior convictions, was arrested and booked in the Maricopa County Jail for manslaughter.

But on April 2, Grant was no longer showing on the Maricopa County Jail roster and no charges were filed against him.

A representative of the Maricopa County Attorney's Office said the case was returned to Scottsdale Police for further investigation.