AUSTIN (KXAN) — Austin Police arrested a man who they claim fatally stabbed another man in downtown Austin on August 2, according to an arrest affidavit.
Scott Graves, 39, was charged with one count of first-degree murder. He will be represented by a court-appointed attorney, who KXAN reached out to for a statement.
According to APD’s arrest affidavit, officers and Austin-Travis County EMS responded to a 911 call around 3:20 a.m. on Aug. 2. The caller reported “someone bleeding from his neck” near Interstate 35 and East 8th Street.
After they arrived, officers found a man with an open wound on his neck. ATCEMS provided first aid at the scene and took the victim to Dell Seton Medical Center, where he died around 3:50 a.m.
The affidavit states that witnesses on scene pointed out a man walking away from the area “with an orange tent.” Officers detained that man, who the affidavit identifies as Graves.
“Officers noted that the suspect had a pocket knife on him that appeared to have red blood stains on it as well. He was also carrying a folded up orange tent strapped to his backpack,” it reads.
Police brought Graves to APD’s headquarters for questioning. There, officers read him his rights, which Graves “did not affirmatively invoke.”
“Mr. Graves then explained the series of events that lead to him stabbing. Mr. Graves’s story was preceded by a list of mental health diagnoses, but then explained that he believed the unknown man that came to his tent was a government agent and was possibly part of a gang that wanted to kill him,” the affidavit reads. “Mr. Graves added that he decided to stab him one time in the neck but did not mean to kill him.”
The affidavit also mentions that detectives reviewed high activity location observation, or HALO, camera footage from the area. That footage allegedly shows the victim approach an orange tent around 3:15 a.m.
“Moments later, Mr. Graves can be seen exiting his orange tent and standing at the doorway of his tent. Seconds later, and without provocation, Mr. Graves can be seen making a single stabbing motion to the left neck area of the victim,” the affiant claims in his statement.