19-year-old student charged in stabbing on Cedarville campus

Cedarville police and campus security were dispatched to the Stevens Student Center around 8:15 a.m. Tuesday for a man who had been stabbed, according to the affidavit in the case.

When police arrived, the man was in an ambulance to be taken to Soin Medical Center - Kettering Health in Beavercreek. Campus security had the woman, identified as Franks, in custody before taking her to the Cedarville Campus Security Office, where she agreed to an interview.

Franks, who is from the Ohio village of Galena in Delaware County, told police she met the man in the stairwell at the Stevens Student Center to apologize to him about planning to report incidents to university employees that involved him, the affidavit stated. She said she was sitting on his lap, which is a common way she said they talk, when he put his hands on her.

“She related that (the male) put his hands around her neck to choke her and stated he was going to kill her, but he wasn’t squeezing hard enough to leave marks,” the affidavit stated.

Franks said she had some difficulty breathing. She said she reached into her pocket, acting like she was grabbing her cellphone, but actually reached for a knife. The man then pulled his cellphone out to check the time when Franks said she stood up, turned around and stabbed him in the chest before grabbing his phone so he couldn’t call 911.

Investigators interviewed the man at the hospital, where he was treated and later released for the knife wound.

“(The male) stated he had his arms around Franks’ shoulders during their conversation to help her relieve her anxiety, but said he did not choke or assault Franks,” the affidavit said.

He said Franks took his phone as he was calling 911 after he was stabbed.

Officers recovered the phone broken in half and a pocket knife with a 3- to 4-inch blade.

The incident remains under investigation by the Cedarville Police Department with support of the university’s campus security team.