Pregnant postal carrier stabbed with butcher knife while delivering mail, feds say
A pregnant postal carrier was delivering mail along her regular route when a man with a hidden 10-inch butcher knife stabbed her in rural Louisiana, federal prosecutors say.
The woman, who was five months pregnant at the time, had delivered mail in Vivian for two years, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Louisiana.
Nearly one year later, Derrick J. Thomas, 28, of Vivian, was sentenced to 11 years and five months in prison, an Aug. 4 news release from the attorney’s office says.
“(Thomas), without provocation, committed a violent, inexcusable crime and deserves every day in the jail that the court gave him,” U.S. Attorney Brandon B. Brown said in a statement.
McClatchy News contacted Thomas’ attorney for comment on Aug. 5 and was awaiting a response.
On the morning of Aug. 12, 2021, the postal carrier, while working at the Vivian Post Office, began delivering mail in the area when she passed Thomas sitting outside his home — which was described as abandoned — and parked nearby, according to the release.
Eventually, the woman got back in her vehicle and began driving when she saw Thomas waving her down, prosecutors say, but she didn’t know Thomas was hiding a 10-inch butcher knife.
Thomas suddenly stabbed the woman in the right shoulder, and she slammed her foot on the car’s accelerator and drove away before he “could stab a second time,” according to the release.
Prosecutors did not specify a motive for the stabbing, which was investigated by the U.S. Postal Inspection Service.
On March 22, Thomas pleaded guilty to one count of assault with a deadly weapon, waiving his right to a jury trial, according to a plea agreement.
“Our federal employees and contractors must feel safe while in the course and scope of their employment,” Brown said. “This is especially true when our employees are working in rural areas where law enforcement resources are limited.”
Vivian is roughly 30 miles northwest of Shreveport.
This story was originally published August 5, 2022 at 12:51 PM with the headline "Pregnant postal carrier stabbed with butcher knife while delivering mail, feds say."
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