DAYTONA BEACH, Fla.,None — A man called 911 after he stabbed his caregiver at an assisted living facility in Daytona Beach on Thursday, according to police.
Investigators said Thomas Wilkes admitted he wanted to kill the woman because she kept nagging him.
"I stabbed a lady," Wilkes said to the operator.
Justina Threadgill owns the assisted living center on Ruthbern Road in Daytona Beach.
911 Call: Man tells operator he stabbed caregiver
Police said Threadgill had just finished making breakfast for Wilkes when he went into the kitchen and grabbed a knife. He not only stabbed her, but choked her until she passed out twice, police said.
At the end of a cul-de-sac in the Fairway Estates neighborhood, paramedics loaded Threadgill into an ambulance. Her own patient, 49-year-old Wilkes, told a 911 operator that he stabbed her.
"911, where is your emergency?" the operator asked.
"Yeah, I…I just killed somebody," Wilkes said.
"What? Where are you at?" asked the operator.
Threadgill is in serious condition in the hospital.
"Alright, and what happened?" asked the operator.
"I stabbed a lady," he said.
"You stabbed a lady?" asked the operator.
"Yeah," he replied.
Police said Wilkes lived in the home with Threadgill. He told police he'd been planning to stab his caregiver for a week.
"Why did you stab her?" asked the operator.
"I don't know. Can you come out now?" he asked.
"We have them on the way, just stay on the phone with me," the operator said.
"I lost my mind," Wilkes said.
Later, Wilkes told detectives he didn't like Threadgill because she nagged him about following the rules and she wouldn't get his cable TV fixed. He also had issues with her foreign accent and said he had trouble understanding her.
Neighbors couldn't understand why Wilkes would want to kill her.
"She couldn't do anything nicer for you. Just a sweet little lady," said neighbor Tina Nelson.
Other neighbors said they were not surprised because the nursing home has been nothing but a problem for a long time.
"In my opinion, that brings something into this neighborhood that shouldn't be here and what happened today kind of confirms that," said neighbor Douglas Hancock.
Neighbors said police have been there on several occasions for general disturbances.
Wilkes is charged with attempted murder.