Oklahoma City, OK — A man who was attacked and left for dead earlier this month is now sharing the details of his harrowing experience. Jonathan Washington, 24, was walking home from his girlfriend’s house on a typical evening when he was struck by a truck and brutally assaulted by two men, one of whom was his girlfriend’s father.
Washington told authorities that the attack began when he was walking on the median of a local street. “A white pickup truck just rammed into me real hard, and it broke my ankle,” Washington explained. Unable to move, he collapsed on the road, where he was allegedly beaten and stabbed by two men, including Mitchell Yoder, his girlfriend’s father.
According to Washington, the attack was extremely violent, with Yoder and another man reportedly stabbing him a total of 17 times. “They got me on my neck, they got me on my chest, but they had just missed my heart,” said Washington, who was left with severe injuries, including intestines hanging outside his body. Washington believes the attack was a result of a verbal altercation he had earlier in the day with his girlfriend, which reportedly involved her punching him in the face. Washington said that in self-defense, he hit back, but he never imagined the situation would escalate so dramatically. “I was laying on the ground, couldn’t breathe. I thought I wasn’t going to make it,” Washington recalled.
Despite the severity of his injuries, he was rushed to a nearby hospital for emergency surgery, where doctors described his survival as miraculous, given the extent of the wounds. Yoder, who has a lengthy criminal history, was arrested in connection with the attack.
His record includes an arrest last summer for aggravated assault and battery. Washington’s situation has drawn attention to the risks of escalating domestic conflicts and the potential for violence. For now, Washington is recovering from the attack, which has left him physically scarred and emotionally shaken. “I never expected something like this to happen to me,” he said. As the investigation continues, Washington is left with the painful memories of that night and questions about the motivations behind the violent assault.
