Pregnant Woman's Stabbing Prompts Talks Of Greenway Safety

BROOKHAVEN, GA — Leaders in the city of Brookhaven are considering adding more safety upgrades to trails along Peachtree Creek Greenway after a pregnant woman was stabbed there — in front of her 3-year-old son — earlier this month and forced into emergency labor.

The victim, a 34-year-old woman, was five months pregnant and had to have an emergency C-section because of the stabbing. Her newborn is expected to remain in the Newborn Intensive Care Unit (NICU) for several months, and she had to stay in the hospital for several days, Lt. David Snively, public information officer for the Brookhaven Police Department, previously told Patch.

The victim's 3-year-old son was not injured.

Read more: Stabbing Victim Was Pregnant, Forced Into Emergency Labor: Police

The stabbing was the first violent incident to take place along the greenway since its first 1.3-mile stretch opened in December 2019, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported.

The suspect — Christopher Jones, 30, who Brookhaven police say is experiencing homelessness and who suffers from mental illnesses — was arrested and charged five days after the incident. Snively said he confessed to the stabbing.

"The area where this unfortunate attack took place, the suspect went up an embankment," said Gary Yandura, chief of the Brookhaven Police Department, during a Tuesday City Council work session. "He was in-and-out of there within 30 seconds of when the attack happened."

Read more:

• Man Wanted For Stabbing Woman At Peachtree Creek Greenway
• Suspect Arrested In Stabbing Of Pregnant Woman: Brookhaven Police

There are 20 security cameras along the trail where the stabbing occurred, including one that captured footage of Jones and helped lead to his arrest, City Manager Chris Sigman said Tuesday.

City officials are now exploring ways to increase patrols in the area, including sending plainclothes officers to the trails, according to Sigman. He also said they plan to install more cameras at the greenway's three trailheads.

“The officers do area checks, just like we do everywhere else in the city,” Snively told the AJC. “There’s not a prescribed time or number of times that the officers check [the trail]. We ask them to include that as part of their regular patrols.”

Jones is charged with aggravated assault, aggravated battery and cruelty to children in the first degree. All three charges are felonies. He was booked into the DeKalb County Jail, where he remains without bond.

Snively said during a news conference last week that Jones as a "documented history" with BPD. The AJC reported that Jones was arrested on two felony theft charges last year after DeKalb County police said he stole an unlocked, parked vehicle. He was released on a $10,000 bond last November.

Additionally, Jones was previously arrested after he approached a woman from behind and stole her phone either in Fulton County or unincorporated DeKalb County, Snively told the AJC.

Snively previously said Jones has a medically diagnosed mental health condition that investigators believe played a role in the stabbing.