Alabama mayor out of jail after stabbing

DeFUNIAK SPRINGS — The Alabama mayor charged with stabbing a man here Friday bonded out of jail Saturday, according to an officer at the Walton County Jail.

Clay McHugh King, 43, the mayor of Samson, Ala., turned himself in to police after a reported stabbing at a Super 8 motel on Hugh Adams Road.

His bond had been set at $15,000, the jail officer said.

The victim, 44-year-old Stephen Hunter Oates was taken to Healthmark Regional Medical Center in DeFuniak Springs in critical condition with an apparent knife wound in his abdomen, police said.

He was transferred to North Okaloosa Medical Center in Crestview and was in stable condition there Saturday.

Back near Samson, the Dothan Eagle newspaper reported that King attacked Oates because he was at the motel with King’s wife.

DeFuniak Springs police said King attacked Oates at about 1:45 a.m. in the parking lot. Witnesses separated the men after the struggle spilled inside a motel room.

An employee at Crew’s BBQ & Grill in Samson had heard of the mayor’s arrest but only knew that Roger Baine had been installed as mayor pro-tem. Baine is a long-time Samson City councilman.

A phone number listed for Clay King in Samson, Ala., was disconnected.