On March 20, Lake City Police Department responds to a reported stabbing with a pitchfork on Northwest Palm Drive.
When officers arrived they located a 49-year-old victim who was stabbed multiple times in the neck and the head.
Officers rendered aid until EMS arrived and was transported to the hospital.
The victim and witnesses on the scene told investigators that they suspected Ryan Paul McCartney.
They told police that McCartney he had been upset and threw a pitchfork at the victim after a verbal altercation.
McCartney then fled the area on foot in an unknown direction of travel.
On Thursday, March 23, 2023, with the combined efforts of the Columbia County Sheriff’s Office, McCartney was arrested and transported to the Columbia County Detention Center without incident.
McCartney was charged with homicide-willful killing.