Trending

Son of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar charged in near-fatal stabbing of neighbor over trash can dispute

SAN CLEMENTE, Calif. — Adam Abdul-Jabbar, the 28-year-old son of basketball legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, was officially charged Monday in the near-fatal stabbing of a longtime neighbor during a dispute over some trash cans.

Abdul-Jabbar, of San Clemente, California, is charged with three felony counts of assault with a deadly weapon, one felony count of carrying a dirk or dagger and three enhancements of inflicting great bodily injury in connection with the June 9, 2020 attack.

“The 60-year-old victim suffered a fractured skull and nearly died from blood loss after collapsing outside of the emergency room,” a news release from the Orange County District Attorney’s Office said.

Watch victim Raymond Winsor talk about the stabbing below, courtesy of CBS Los Angeles.

The victim, identified by local media and his attorney as Raymond Winsor, also filed a lawsuit against Abdul-Jabbar last month. According to attorney Daniel Callahan, Winsor suffered stab wounds to the neck, back, chest, head and side.

“The stabbing to his head was done with such force it resulted in a skull fracture and subdural hematoma,” Callahan said in a statement last month. “In addition, one of Mr. Winsor’s lacerations extends from his side to his breast bone. Mr. Winsor also suffered significant bruising to multiple areas of his body.”

In a June interview with ABC 7 in Los Angeles, Winsor said he was stabbed seven times after he confronted Abdul-Jabbar about his failure to take in trash cans for the elderly woman Abdul-Jabbar lives with. Callahan identified the woman as Abdul-Jabbar’s grandmother.

Watch Winsor’s interview with ABC 7 below.

“I sort of got on him because the lady who takes care of him is 83-year-old, he doesn’t do anything for her and it just bums me out,” Winsor told the news station. “She’s in a walker taking her trash cans down.”

Winsor said Abdul-Jabbar went inside but returned, at which point he threatened the older man.

“Shut your (expletive) mouth or I’m gonna stick this knife through your teeth and cut your throat out,” Abdul-Jabbar said, according to Callahan.

Winsor, who said he watched Abdul-Jabbar grow up next door, initially thought the threat was a joke, CBS Los Angeles reported.

“I said, ‘Really,’ because I thought he was only joking. I’ve known the kid for a long time,” Winsor told the CBS affiliate.

Winsor said he turned to walk away and felt what he thought were punches. They were stab wounds.

“I turned, and he was on me,” Winsor said. “I thought he was punching me, but he actually had a knife. After the fourth punch, I felt a very sharp pain and noticed blood coming out of me, and then I had one to the top of my head, and I was trying to get back to my house and he was in front of me.”

Winsor’s wife rushed him to Mission Hospital.

“Upon arrival to the emergency department, he had already lost consciousness and was in hypovolemic shock due to extensive blood loss,” Callahan said. “He required immediate intravenous fluid resuscitation including blood transfusions.”

Winsor, who remained hospitalized for three days, continued to be treated for his injuries as of last month.

Shawn Holley, an attorney representing Abdul-Jabbar, told NBC News that the “complaining witness,” Winsor, “initiated the altercation, and it was Mr. Abdul-Jabbar who contacted the police to report it.”

“For these reasons and many more, we are disappointed that this case was filed, but stand ready to address the charges in court,” Holley said in a statement.

“A dispute between neighbors should never escalate to violence, much less the ruthless nature of this attack,” Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer said in a statement. “Violence of any kind will not be tolerated in Orange County and those who choose to inflict violence on others will be prosecuted by the Orange County District Attorney’s Office to the fullest extent of the law.”

If convicted of all charges, Abdul-Jabbar faces more than nine months in prison.