Colmesneil man sentenced for 2019 restaurant stabbing

By Chris Edwards
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CryerWOODVILLE – A man was sentenced last week to 20 years in prison for stabbing a co-worker.

Richard Calvin Cryer, a 34-year-old Colmesneil man, was convicted of the aggravated assault charge from 2019, and still faces additional charges in Tyler County.

He received the maximum punishment for the crime in a district courtroom before District Judge Delinda Gibbs-Walker. 

Tyler County District Attorney Lucas Babin said that justice was served. “This defendant is dangerous and unpredictable. Our county is safer with him behind bars,” Babin said, after Cryer was sentenced.

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Cryer, who had been employed with Elijah’s Café in Woodville for about two days had exhibited strange behavior, which was consistent with the abuse and use of methamphetamines, according to witness testimony. A fellow employee, Jose Oscar Azcona, was teaching Cryer how to make club sandwiches, when suddenly and unexpectedly, Cryer attacked him and began to stab him with a 12-inch butcher knife, while shouting “Go to sleep, motherf—er.”

Azcona sustained a stab wound to his abdomen and a severe cut to his arm, but was subsequently treated for the injuries. 

Cryer, who fled the scene with the knife, was spotted a few blocks from the restaurant by Woodville Police officer Arin Dees and Chase Nalley, an investigator with the Tyler County Sheriff’s Office. 

Cryer was on foot, and when he saw the two officers, he dropped the knife, and was detained. Cryer claimed, when on the stand, that the attack was in self-defense, however, the jurors found no evidence to support the notion that Azcona had threatened or harmed Cryer. Furthermore, Cryer had said he “has no regrets” and said that getting stabbed was “good” for his victim.

Babin said that other evidence demonstrated a history of drug abuse and violent criminal activity for Cryer.