Citrus County Sheriff’s Office deputies today arrested a Floral City man and charged him with stabbing an Inverness man in the neck at approximately 2:30 a.m.

Arrested was Michael Lawrence Groom, 18, of 13805 S. Pleasant Grove Road in Floral City, who is alleged to have stabbed 19-year-old Trevor Kilpatrick of Inverness in the neck following an argument between the two at a North Fitzpatrick Avenue home.

Kilpatrick was taken to Shands Hospital in Gainesville for treatment.

According to the arrest report, Kilpatrick’s mother told responding deputies that Groom had stabbed her son several times in the neck. The mother said that at some point in the past her son had said that Groom had stolen her camera. She said that prior to the incident, Groom had shown up at their home and asked to speak to her son, but that her son pushed Groom out of the doorway and told him to leave.

The mother said that Groom then told her son that that he should “watch his back.”

A short time later, the mother said, her son went outside and got into another confrontation with Groom. At one point, the mother said, she heard a “thump” on the wall of the home, and then saw Trevor, dripping with blood, re-enter the home. “Michael did this,” he told his mother, according to the arrest report.

The father, who had been sleeping, was awakened by his wife, and saw his son bleeding. He then took Trevor to the porch area where, he told a deputy Groom approached him and said several times that he “didn’t do it.” The father said he had heard a car door close, and Groom was gone.

A nearby witness told deputies that she had seen Groom covered in blood driving his blue Dodge Neon, and that he had said several times that “his best friend” was dying.

Groom was detained near Applebee’s in Inverness. He was read his rights, and said he was willing to talk. He was taken to a CCSO interview room in Lecanto for a recorded interview, but later said he didn’t feel comfortable and wanted to speak with his attorney. He was then informed of the charges against him and told that he would be taken to the county jail for booking.

While awaiting transport to the jail, Groom was alone in the interview room under the watch of a deputy sitting just outside of the room. Several times, The arrest report says that Groom had asked to speak with the deputy alone, because he didn’t want to be recorded. However, he was told that he had already invoked his rights, and that the deputy couldn’t then speak with him about anything.

Groom told the deputy he understood, but continued to talk. He said that he “did what he did” to defend himself, that his intoxication may have played a role in his actions and that he had broken a tooth during the altercation. He then asked the deputy for a bag to put the tooth into, and then put the tooth on the table in the interview room.

Groom was told he was being charged with aggravated battery with a deadly weapon, and was then taken to the county jail for booking and processing.

Bond was set at $10,000.