Inset: Joseph Sellers (Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office). Background: The area in Mesa, Ariz., where Joseph Sellers allegedly stabbed a woman 19 times with a box cutter and “brutally” beat her following a minor car crash that they got into (Google Maps).
In Arizona, a woman suffered severe injuries after being stabbed and “brutally beaten” in a Burger King parking lot. The incident occurred when she pulled over to exchange information with a man following a minor car accident. According to police, the man attacked her “without provocation.”
Joseph Sellers, aged 30, faces charges of attempted second-degree murder in connection with the February 20th attack. The assault left the victim in the hospital with a collapsed lung and 19 stab wounds, each about half an inch long, on her face, neck, and left torso. These wounds resulted in significant and disfiguring injuries, as detailed in court documents sourced by Law&Crime.
A probable cause affidavit for Sellers’ arrest reveals that he admitted to police that both he and the victim had pulled over near a Mesa Burger King after their minor car collision. It was there that the victim was discovered “brutally beaten and severely bleeding.”
According to the affidavit, Sellers expressed anger over the accident and believed he was being “gang stalked.” He claimed that after pulling over to exchange information, he saw the victim reach into her purse and, aware that Arizona is an “open carry state,” he began punching her repeatedly. This attack, which lasted between 30 seconds to a minute, was corroborated by surveillance footage.
Sellers allegedly conceded that “it was reasonable” to assume the victim was simply reaching for her information, but he disregarded this possibility, as noted in the affidavit.
The affidavit further states that Sellers admitted his intention was to harm the victim. After the assault, he took her cell phone in an attempt to determine if she was tracking him, despite them traveling in opposite directions at the time of the collision.
Mesa Police found the victim in the Burger King parking lot, located at 4403 E. Broadway Road, and transported her to the hospital. She also suffered a broken tooth and was “bleeding profusely from her face, neck, and chest” when officers made contact with her, according to cops.
“She attempted to call police after the other driver had departed but found her cell phone missing,” the affidavit says. “[The victim] was able to do so using her smart watch.”
Sellers fled the state after the attack and was located in Las Vegas several days later, according to police. He was allegedly behind the wheel of the same vehicle he was driving on the day of the stabbing, but its rims had been painted a different color. Sellers was also reportedly caught with the victim’s cellphone.
“A search warrant was authored for the defendant’s vehicle, at which time multiple box cutters were located, matching the injuries sustained by the victim,” the affidavit says. “The defendant was interviewed under Miranda, at which time he … admitted to being in a traffic collision with the victim, whom was a complete stranger to him, and engaging in an assault against her.”
Sellers was extradited back to Mesa, Arizona, and booked on charges of attempted second-degree murder, armed robbery, and burglary. He is scheduled to appear at a preliminary hearing on April 2.
