Man faces attempted murder charges in brother’s stabbing

By Gus Bode

A Carbondale man is being charged with attempted murder after he allegedly stabbed his younger brother early Sunday morning.

Carbondale Police responded to a 911 call at 1:05 a.m. Sunday morning and arrested Richard L. Neal, 54, of 518 East Larch St., for stabbing his 50-year-old brother, Anthony Neal, at their home on the northwest side of the city.

Richard Neal was taken into custody at Jackson County Jail in Murphysboro and remained in custody Tuesday under $50,000 bond.

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But Rhonda Neal, daughter of Richard Neal, said the entire incident was one big misunderstanding.

Rhonda Neal, 50, of Chicago, said she saw the incident transpire. She said Anthony Neal was heavily intoxicated when the brothers began tussling over a knife that Anthony Neal was holding. The two fell, she said, and Anthony Neal was subsequently stabbed on accident.

‘No one swung a knife,’ Rhonda Neal said. ‘Richard was not in any possession of a knife. When Anthony gets intoxicated, he always has it out for Richard. He gets into a rage when he is drinking. He was drinking all night and Richard was just waking out of his sleep by (Anthony). They were tussling and the way they fell, Anthony was stabbed.

‘No one jabbed anyone or anything like that.’

From Carbondale Memorial Hospital, Anthony Neal said Tuesday he was stabbed in the side and expects to make a full recovery.

Louis Monroe, a sister-in-law of the brothers, said Richard Neal is a nice and caring person.

Rhonda Neal said Anthony Neal doesn’t plan on pressing charges because he knows he was in the wrong during the incident.

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‘That is just how he acts,’ she said. ‘When he gets intoxicated he threatens to shoot people, and that is how he is. He is a different person when he is drinking.’

According to court records, Anthony Neal was found guilty of aggravated battery in 2006 and charged with domestic battery and aggravated assault with a deadly weapon in 2008.

Rhonda Neal said her family would fight for her father’s release at any cost.

‘He is a good guy and has a good heart,’ Rhonda Neal said. ‘He is a hard worker and has been all his life. The charge is too tough on my dad, but we will get him out somehow.’

Rhonda Neal said reports from news outlets that the brothers were fighting over a watermelon were false.

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