Homicide Unit detectives this afternoon swore out an arrest warrant charging Roy Lomax Gardner, 42, with this morning's stabbing murder of a woman at a bus stop on Harding Place at Antioch Pike in South Nashville.
Gardner carried a Florida identification card that was issued in April of this year and listed an address in North Fort Myers. Gardner has arrest histories in Florida, Georgia and Alabama. It is not clear when he arrived in Nashville.
The victim has been tentatively identified as a 38-year-old Nashvillian. Positive identification is pending.
The investigation shows that Gardner and the victim were seated next to each other on a bus shelter bench. As the bus pulled up at 5:15 a.m., both individuals got up. Surveillance video shows that as the victim gathered her belongings and began to approach the bus, Gardner, without provocation, suddenly attacked and began stabbing her. The victim began screaming, which caught the attention of patrons in the parking lot of an adjacent convenience market. They ran to the scene, subdued Gardner and held him there until police arrived.
The victim was rushed to Vanderbilt University Medical Center where she died shortly after arrival. Gardner, who was injured during the citizen arrest, has been admitted to Vanderbilt. He is being guarded by police and will be taken to jail and booked on the criminal homicide charge upon his release from the hospital.
Detectives have not been able to speak to Gardner in detail. His motive for attacking the victim is unclear.
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Roy Lomax Gardner, 42