Two teens are facing multiple charges in connection with the stabbing of a third youth during an incident at the Heather subdivision in Weeki Wachee.
According to Denise Moloney, public relations manager for the Hernando County Sheriff’s Office (HCSO), shortly after 5 p.m. on Jan. 29, deputies, along with personnel from Hernando Fire and Rescue (HFES), responded to a report of a stabbing at Sturbridge Court in Weeki Wachee.
When they arrived, they found a male juvenile who had sustained multiple stab wounds. He was treated on the scene and then taken to a local trauma center for treatment, where he remains in critical condition.
At the scene of the incident, witnesses told deputies that two male youths were fighting with the victim, stabbed him and fled into a wooded area nearby.
Patrol deputies immediately established a perimeter around the scene, and K-9 teams and drones were deployed in an effort to locate the suspects.
Less than an hour after the call, a pair of juvenile suspects were found and taken into custody. Major Case detectives were then sent to the scene to handle the investigation of the incident.
During their investigation, detectives found that all parties involved attend Weeki Wachee High School, except for Adam Biley, and are known to one another. Biley attends Endeavor Academy. Some were former friends whose relationships deteriorated, resulting in “issues” between the parties, Moloney said.
As a result, one youth, who was unnamed because of the misdemeanor charges against him, made threatening statements, and he and the victim planned to meet at a certain Sturbridge Court location to fight one another.
According to Moloney, the victim, along with four friends, car-pooled to that location where the unnamed youth and another male juvenile, identified as 16-year-old Adam Biley, walked to the location. Biley was named because of the felony charges against him., Moloney said.
When the victim got out of the vehicle, his four friends remained inside it, and he became engaged in a physical fight with the unnamed juvenile. Shortly thereafter, Biley joined in the fight, attacked the victim from behind and stabbed him several times.
When the victim fell on the ground, the unnamed suspect jumped on top of him and continued to physically batter him. The four other youths who accompanied the victim to the fight scene then got out of the vehicle and tried to stop the fight.
As a result, the unnamed suspect directed his aggression toward them and Biley, who was still holding the knife, walked up to one of the victim’s female friends and threatened her by saying, “Don’t make me stab you,” then proceeded to slash at her thigh.
“Incidentally, the female victim recorded the initial fight and stabbing with her cell phone before ending the recording so she could attempt to break up the fight,” Moloney said. That video recording corroborated witness statements, she said.
When detectives interviewed Biley and the unnamed suspect, Biley originally told them that he was afraid and that he stabbed the victim in an effort to defend himself from the five people present at the incident. The unnamed suspect corroborated Biley’s statement but denied knowing about the stabbing.
The pair also told investigators that they were “ambushed” by the five other individuals and that they had no knowledge of the pre-arranged fight. “The (unnamed suspect) later admitted that the fight was pre-arranged but continued to deny any knowledge of the stabbing,” Moloney said.
Biley later changed his statement and admitted that the unnamed youthful suspect asked him to accompany him to the pre-arranged fight. Biley also said that he stepped in and began stabbing the victim because the unnamed suspect was losing the fight. Video evidence disputed Biley’s claim, and he refused to tell detectives where he put the knife used in the stabbing.
According to detectives, all the parents and caregivers of the youths involved in the incident cooperated with the investigation and acting on a warrant, they searched Biley’s residence. There, they found a cell phone and a knife and collected them as evidence. Whether the knife was the same one used in the stabbing is unknown, Moloney said.
Subsequently, both youths were placed under arrest.
The unnamed juvenile suspect was charged with two counts of misdemeanor battery and released into the custody of his parents. Biley was charged with aggravated battery/causing harm or disability and aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. He is incarcerated at the Department of Juvenile Justice (DJJ).
The cases are pending.