$2.5 million bond for man charged with stabbing wife, 3 children with butcher knife

Officials said the stabbing occurred around 10 p.m. at 5909 Gamble Drive. Carl Barkley, 54, was arrested in Rocky Mount at Nash General Hospital and charged with assault with a deadly weapon with the intent to kill and inflicting serious injury.

Prosecutor Nisha Patel told the court, "The initial 911 call indicated that the father was stabbing everybody, and that somebody was in the residence trying to kill everybody."

The four victims are Barkley's wife, Brenda Barkley, age 53, and his three children: Adonnas, 23, Aaliyah, 22, and Aaron, 16.

Barkley made his first appearance in domestic violence court on Monday.

He has a criminal record which includes convictions dating back more than two decades for assault, drugs, larceny and possession of a weapon by a felon. He's also had a series of charges of assault on a female that were later dismissed.

Barkley is on the sex offender registry after he was convicted of a sex crime against a 13-year-old in 2001. Because of that, he was not supposed to be living in the home with children, but neighbors say he was a regular visitor to the Gamble Drive home. His home address, as listed on his criminal record, is 1124 Chapel Hill Church Road in Rich Square, a community north of Scotland Neck.

A spokesperson for the sheriff said the victims were all rushed to WakeMed for treatment, where the Aaron and Aaliyah Barkley were in critical condition. Adonnas and Brenda Barkley were in stable condition.

According to the spokesperson, the family ran to two neighbors' homes for help, including to the home of Alicia Rcomskor, who attends South Garner High School with Aaron.

"We ride the same bus together. Every afternoon he walks me home and stuff. He's s good boy," she said.

Azuzena Johnson answered her door to see her neighbors bleeding.

"Normally I never open the door for anybody," said Johnson. "Something in my heart told me to do it. I saw them bleeding. They were in pain. They had a lot of bleeding inside and the lady had her shoulder stabbed too many times. and the boy was yelling, 'Help, help, please help.'"

Eric Curry, a spokesman for the Wake County Sheriff's Office, said, “Of course our deputies have families, and we are ready to respond at any time. Our deputies were able to render aid quickly and mobilize (the) victims.”