Nov 16, 2012 2 min read

ONONGAHELA – An attempted homicide charge against a Donora man was dropped Thursday after the victim failed to appear in court to testify in the case stemming from a disagreement over the suspect not wearing clothing in the presence of a child.

District Judge Mark Wilson withdrew the entire case Donora police filed against James Russell Tyree, 61, of 938 McKean Ave., when Tyree appeared in district court in Monongahela for a preliminary hearing, which was cancelled over a lack of evidence, court records show.

Lamont Dixon, 33, of Donora, was critically injured when he was stabbed in the heart with an unknown object during a disagreement Sept. 8 at Tyree’s residence. He was stabbed about 7:40 p.m. while walking down a flight of stairs and needed to undergo open-heart surgery due to his injuries, borough police stated in the affidavit.

Initially, Dixon’s wife, Natasha, told police she thought Tyree had pushed her husband against the stairway wall, and then took him to Mon Valley Hospital after seeing blood on his chest, the court record indicates.

Tyree was later released on bond, only to be returned to the Washington County jail on $100,000 bond after the Washington County district attorney’s office reviewed the case and added the attempted homicide charge against him in early October.

Tyree, who also faced charges of aggravated assault, simple assault and reckless endangerment was released from jail Thursday.