Stabbing Left Victim 'Near Death', Somerset County Man Convicted: Prosecutor

After a trial which lasted nine days, a 22-year-old Bound Brook man has been convicted for the stabbing that left his victim ”near death” in January.

The knife had gone so far into the victim that it almost reached his back.

Ernesto Azana-Pure has been found guilty of second degree aggravated assault and third degree possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose. He was found not guilty of first degree attempted murder, according to the Somerset County Prosecutor’s Office.

On Jan. 14, police responded to the report of a stabbing around 4:50 a.m. at 57 Talmadge Avenue in Bound Brook.

“Responding officers found the victim inside his residence covered in blood. He had a stab wound in his abdomen that was so severe that his intestines had come out of his body,” according to the prosecutor’s office. “The victim was going in and out of consciousness. The interior of the apartment had large amounts of blood in every room.”

The victim was rushed to Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in New Brunswick where he was in critical condition.

His condition was so grave, emergency surgery had to be stopped until his condition stabilized. Two days later another operation was performed.

Azana-Pure was being held in the Somerset County Jail in lieu of $100,000.00 bail until his conviction - his bail has since been revoked. He faces a maximum sentence of 10 years in New Jersey state prison, with 85% of that, or 8.5 years, to be served without parole.