Police set up crime scene after man stabbed to death on Gold Coast
The victim of a brutal stabbing in Surfers Paradise overnight has been revealed as a young dad. His two accused killers faced court today charged with his murder and two more men have been arrested in relation to the dramatic incident today.
Police & Courts
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After two men faced court this morning charged with the brutal stabbing murder of a young Beenleigh dad at Surfers Paradise overnight, police have made more arrests in relation to the dramatic incident.
Emergency services were called to the scene at around 9pm on Cavill Ave near Orchid Ave where 27-year-old man Raymond Harris was stabbed in the torso during an altercation with several men who were known to him, police allege.
He was transported to the Gold Coast University Hospital but died a short time later.
Twenty-one-year-old Jarod James Miller from Tinana, and 18-year-old Jye Sebastian Webb-Italia from Pimpama. were both charged with murder and three counts of assault after the terrifying incident in the heart of the Gold Coast’s nightlife precinct on Wednesday night.
Another man was arrested in Brisbane on Thursday afternoon and another on the gold coast.
They are both being questioned by police but charges have not yet been laid.
Miller and Webb-Italia faced Southport Magistrates Court briefly on Thursday morning, where their cases were adjourned until October 15.
Miller, whose social media pages show him posing with bongs, weapons, luxury cars and wads of cash, celebrated the birth of a baby daughter last year.
Police allege Webb-Italia inflicted the fatal wounds.
Outside court, his defence lawyer Rodney Keyte said Webb-Italia was “in a world of shock right now”.
“He is very young and he’s got to process what’s happened,” he said.
He said it was early days in the police investigation and the facts were still unclear.
“The CCTV seems to show another person holding a knife,” he said.
“It’s a bit unclear what has happened.
“There’s mention of a group of people, it’s still very murky.”
Police had locked down numerous streets in Surfers Paradise and setup roadblocks, with vehicles being stopped and searched.
The police helicopter was also deployed to the area.
A witness posted on Facebook that they had seen seven police vehicles at a roadblock stopping people and searching them.
An eyewitness who was at the scene with his kids claimed multiple males had attacked someone from behind, stabbing them several times.
A nearby bouncer told The Gold Coast Bulletin: “I heard someone came out of a bar, there was a confrontation and the next minute they got stabbed.
“And I saw coppers running down the road - I have never seen so many cops running. Pretty much everyone in that Surfers police station ran off down the road, would have been 10-plus, 15-plus police.”
Another witness who saw the alleged stabbing said she’ll never set foot in Surfers Paradise again.
Cleo Jean was sitting by the stairs at Timezone with friends when they noticed a group of distressed people surrounding Mr Harris, who was lying on the ground.
“Everyone’s saying, ‘he’s been stabbed’ and there was a girl standing right next to them with two guys,” Ms Jean said.
“Everyone’s just in shock, people are screaming out ‘call the ambulance’ but most people are just shocked, just standing there, silent.
“Some people were bawling their eyes out.”
Ms Jean said that when they approached the scene it appeared that Mr Harris was already deceased.
“I walked up like ‘has anyone called an ambulance or anything’ and I saw two girls were on the phone to the ambulance and the police,” she said.
“We were all just sort of waiting around, there was nothing anyone could do. … This guy was like when you get one of those puppets and sit it down limp, like a ragdoll. There was not a breath of life in him … His eyes were open and rolled back and he was just gone instantly.”
Cleo said a friend of Mr Harris was distraught when he arrived at the scene and discovered what had happened.
“His mate must have been at Woolies or the toilet because he wasn’t there and he runs out and he’s like ‘what’s going on’ and he sees his mate on the floor and he just bolts and he’s screaming and yelling and swearing,” Cleo said.
“He asked what happened and someone told him and then he starts trying to run to go after the guy, to find the guys (the persons responsible).
“His mates were all holding him back.
“I think once he ran out and saw his mate and just lost it that kind of snapped everyone out of the shock and everyone started losing their s**t, like crying and screaming and holding each other and holding him back.”
Cleo added that when emergency services arrived it appeared there was nothing they could do for Mr Harris.
“There wasn’t any action, it was like they must have just known (he was dead).
“They (the police) just jogged over and got in the middle of the circle and tried to pull everyone away from him.
“All his mates were trying to get in, they were just broken.
“They were trying to stay close to him, stay by his side.
“The cops were just trying to push them off of him.
“There were just children and families around him crying.
“I spoke to one of the guys there and he said that a Christian family was singing gospel, trying to sing to God for him.
“It was intense.”
Cleo said she was a Surfers Paradise regular, but would not return after what she witnessed.
“I go to Surfers honestly almost every single day, I go alone, I go with friends, I go in the middle of the night and I have never been scared,” Cleo said.
“But after what happened last night, I am never setting foot in Surfers again.
“It’s not even the threat of something happening, it’s the fear of being triggered by seeing that scene again.”
This is the second alleged stabbing on the Coast’s infamous Glitter Strip in as many days, after police yesterday charged a 17-year-old girl following the stabbing of a man at Surfers Paradise early Wednesday morning.
Police will allege the Marsden girl used a small knife, believed to be a pocket knife or switchblade to stab the man multiple times in his torso, after it’s alleged the 30-year-old man and his male friend were walking through Cavill Street Mall when a confrontation took place between the pair and the teen around 4am.
The man was taken to the Gold Coast University Hospital for treatment for his serious injuries, while the teen will face Southport Children’s Court late this month.