Man planned stabbing of supervisor for months, Phoenix police say

PHOENIX (3TV/CBS 5) - Court documents are revealing more about what led up to a stabbing at a west Phoenix workplace earlier this week.

Court paperwork revealed that the suspect, identified as Kendis Auzzine Randles, allegedly stabbed his supervisor in the face, neck, stomach and right hand with a box cutter just after 7:30 a.m. on Monday. A witness told officers at the scene that she found the suspect standing over the supervisor just after the incident and that she pulled him off of their supervisor by his hoodie.

She then ran into the warehouse, located near 71st Ave. and Buckeye Road, to call for help while other employees helped get the supervisor to safety. It was then that Randles barricaded himself in the office but was later arrested after an hours-long stand off with Phoenix Police officers inside the building. Doctors say the supervisor will need several reconstructive surgeries due to the severity of the stabbing.

Investigators say that Randles told them after his arrest that he believed his supervisor had talked to him about trying to sell a baby over four years ago. At that time, he said that the police didn’t do anything about it, court paperwork says. However, he says he had confronted his supervisor several times since that alleged conversation, court paperwork says.

Since he believed that the legal system wouldn’t “work,” he said he decided he’d have to do it, finally deciding to attack the man on Thursday, Oct. 13. When Randles showed up, however, the supervisor wasn’t there. According to court documents, Randles showed up to work on Monday, stabbed the man, and was later arrested after the standoff.

Court paperwork reveals that he admitted he was trying to kill his supervisor, saying that it was the “only way” to get him off the streets and keep the community safe. Randles had an involuntary mental evaluation in October 2021, when authorities found he was experiencing potential alcohol and narcotic abuse, paperwork says. He told investigators that he’d never abused narcotics but that he had drank before coming into work earlier Monday morning, court papers say. He now faces first-degree murder and two aggravated assault charges and is being held on a million-dollar bond.

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