‘I Really Thought I Wasn’t Going Home’: Belt Street Stabbing Victim Shares Her Account

JONESBORO, Ark. — Kayla Hughes says she suffered stab wounds to her back, buttocks and abdomen during an Oct. 25 confrontation on Belt Street — injuries that left her fearing she would never see her children again.

In an interview with NEA Report, Hughes, 28, described the stabbing, her painful recovery and the people she credits with helping save her life. She also wanted to correct the impression that she had been stabbed only once.

“The last thing I said before I stopped talking, I said tell my kids I love them,” Hughes said. “I really thought I wasn’t going home.”

Sydnee Mathis faces a first-degree battery charge, a Class B felony, in connection with the stabbing. According to NEA Report’s earlier coverage of a probable cause affidavit, witnesses told police Hughes was fighting another woman when Mathis produced a knife and stabbed her. The affidavit said the injury required emergency surgery.

A Gathering Turns Into a Confrontation

Hughes said she went with her in-laws to a bonfire where she had been invited. She knew Mathis’ name but said she did not know her well.

Throughout part of the evening, Hughes said, Mathis was friendly, asking how she was doing and whether she was hungry.

Hughes said an ongoing dispute involved another woman she described as having a relationship with her husband. Earlier that day, Hughes said, that woman had taken Hughes’ infant daughter from someone else’s arms during a visit Hughes said was unwelcome.

Hughes acknowledged she expected a confrontation the next time she saw the woman.

At the gathering, however, Hughes said she was repeatedly assured the other woman would not be coming. When the woman later arrived, a physical fight followed.

Hughes said the first confrontation happened in a kitchen, where she alleges Mathis put her in a headlock while she was fighting the other woman.

“She had me in a headlock when I couldn’t breathe,” Hughes said.

Others separated them, Hughes said, but she and the other woman fought again outside.

Hughes believes the confrontation was arranged. She said she later learned Mathis and the other woman had been exchanging messages throughout the evening and that Mathis had invited the woman over. Hughes said a detective has those messages.

“It was really a setup,” Hughes said. “I was really set up to be stabbed and to be hurt.”

That allegation is Hughes’ account. Details about the investigation have not yet been released by police.

‘Oh My God, She Stabbed Me’

During the fight outside, Hughes said, she initially thought someone was kicking her in the back. She felt a sharp pain in her buttocks but did not realize a knife was involved.

Hughes said she suffered wounds to her back and upper buttocks before the fight ended. When she stood up, she alleges, Mathis approached and stabbed her in the abdomen beneath her left breast.

Hughes described the abdominal wound as about 7 inches long.

“I said oh my God she stabbed me,” Hughes said.

She recalled feeling warm blood coming through her fingers as she pressed against the wound. Her shirt became soaked, and she fell to the ground.

Hughes said she struggled to breathe and did not initially realize she also had wounds behind her.

NEA Report’s initial coverage, based on a Jonesboro police report, placed the incident at 1:48 a.m. Oct. 25 in the 500 block of Belt Street. Officer Jacob Lowry reported finding a woman on the ground while others held a jacket over her stomach. He described a deep wound extending from her sternum toward her left ribs and applied gauze followed by three chest seals.

Hughes remembered an officer applying adhesive coverings to her wound and holding her hand until an ambulance arrived.

As people worked around her, she said, her vision began to blur.

“It was very scary,” Hughes said. “I’m 28 years old and I’ve never had my life go through something like this.”

Gratitude Amid a Painful Recovery

Hughes credits a woman she identified as a nurse, relatives, responding officers and the medical team at St. Bernards with helping her survive.

The nurse and a relative applied pressure to her wound, she said. Just as important to Hughes was the nurse’s calm response.

“Because she didn’t panic, I didn’t panic,” Hughes said.

Hughes said a Jonesboro officer who applied chest seals was one of several who saved her life. She said he stayed with her, even riding in the ambulance with her to the hospital. JPD’s Public Information Official Sally Smith verified Officer Jacob Lowry was the one who applied the seals and stayed in the ambulance with her. 

At the hospital, Hughes recalled being surrounded by medical personnel. She said the surgeon who treated her also helped save her life.

“I really just want to thank everybody,” she said.

Her recovery has been painful. Hughes said soreness and concern about contact with her wounds have made it difficult to hold and bond with her 6-month-old daughter.

“I’m not even able to bond with my 6 month old because everything is sore and she might hit the wound,” Hughes said. “Everything hurts.”

Hughes said she wants everyone responsible held accountable.

For now, she is also thinking about how close she felt to losing her life — and the people who stayed beside her when she feared she would not survive.

“Life is very short,” Hughes said. “It flashed before my eyes.”

District Judge David Boling found probable cause Oct. 28 in Mathis’ case. Bond was set at $100,000 cash or surety with GPS monitoring, according to the court order described in NEA Report’s earlier coverage.

All suspects are innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.