Hiker in critical condition after stabbing on Florida National Scenic Trail, cops say

A hiker is in critical condition after being stabbed “for unknown reasons” on the Panhandle leg of the Florida National Scenic Trail, according to the Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office.

It happened late Tuesday, Nov. 1, on a section of the 1,500-mile trail near Crestview, 50 miles northeast of Pensacola.

The victim is hospitalized with a stab wound to the abdomen, the sheriff’s office said in a news release.

A man who is homeless is a suspect in the attack, officials said.

“The victim and his wife had befriended a homeless man when they arrived in Crestview and set up a camp on the Florida Natural Scenic Trail about a mile east of Highway 85,” the sheriff’s office said.

“For unknown reasons, 37-year-old Jonathan Davis of Havana (Florida) stabbed the 45-year-old victim from Ohio in the abdomen, then left. The victim’s wife went to a location where she could use a cell phone to call 9-1-1 and describe the suspect.”

Davis was found walking along State Road 85 by a Crestview police officer and taken into custody, officials said.

Details of who came to the aid of the victim were not released.

The suspect has been charged with aggravated battery with a deadly weapon, and was found to have outstanding warrants in Leon County, Florida, for burglary, theft and criminal mischief, according to jail records.

“A search turned up a bloody knife and blood on Davis’s clothing,” officials said. “At last word the victim was in critical condition at an area hospital, but expected to survive.”

The Eglin Range Patrol and emergency communications center handled the initial calls and response “and facilitated launch of an aircraft to help in the search,” county officials said. Dogs from the Okaloosa Correctional Institution also joined the search, officials said.

The Florida National Scenic Trail “is a congressionally-designated, long-distance hiking trail that weaves its way across Florida from Big Cypress National Preserve in the south to Gulf Islands National Seashore in the western end of Florida’s panhandle,” according to the U.S. Forest Service.

The incident took place on a leg of the trail that parallels forest land along the Shoal River in central Okaloosa County.

This story was originally published November 2, 2022 at 2:05 PM with the headline "Hiker in critical condition after stabbing on Florida National Scenic Trail, cops say."