Man accused in Beltline attack pleaded guilty in prior stabbing, records show

It is the most recent example, officials say, of a repeat offender with a history of mental illness committing an attack on the Beltline, a multiuse path widely used throughout the city by locals and visitors.

Dickens said in a statement Monday the incident raises “serious questions about how someone with that record was once again in a position to endanger the public.”

“Those facts demand that we examine the systems surrounding behavioral health, repeat offenders and public safety, and address any failures plainly with the partners responsible for those systems,” Dickens said.

The two men got into a verbal argument that “quickly escalated,” into violence and Hamby stabbed Harris in the neck with a knife, Police Chief Darin Schierbaum said. The warrant says Hamby told him and another man to back up “before I stab you.”

Scott Buchanan, a 45-year-old Decatur resident, said he was there during the aftermath of the stabbing and described the “horrible scene” as bystanders tried to help the man bleeding from his neck. A large puddle of blood on the concrete was visible in images Buchanan shared of the scene.

“I felt horrible to watch this guy in these moments of his life, blood coming out all over the place,” Buchanan said. “You see that kind of stuff in movies, and that doesn’t affect me that much. But to see it 20 feet away, happening right there in front of your face, is another story.”

Hamby stayed at the scene, standing nearby holding his knife, until police arrived and arrested him, Buchanan said.

Hamby has been in and out of the Fulton County Jail on various charges since 2011, jail records show. Some of those prior charges have been dismissed, suspended or reduced to time served, jail records show.

In a 2017 Fulton County case, prosecutors charged Hamby with aggravated assault and possession of a knife during the commission of a felony and accused him of stabbing a man in the hand, arm and back, causing “serious bodily injury,” the warrant says.

Hamby stayed in custody until he pleaded guilty in 2020, jail records show. He received multiple mental health evaluations during the case and was declared incompetent, meaning the prosecution could not move forward, court records show.

In the negotiated plea, he was sentenced to 20 years, with the first three years commuted to time served on the condition that he enter and complete a court-approved program, records show. The remaining 17-year sentence would be on probation.

He violated his probation, served time in jail, and was released again in 2022, court records show. Then, in November 2025, the state argued he violated his probation again. But after the state did not petition the court on the case, the probation violation was dismissed, and he was released, records show.

Hamby now faces charges of murder, aggravated assault and possession of a knife in the commission of a felony in Sunday’s stabbing, the warrant says. He has also been charged with making terroristic threats against Harris and another man in the incident.

It’s not the first stabbing on the Beltline to rattle Atlantans this year.

A high-profile search shook the city after a stabbing in May, a random attack that left one woman dead and another injured. Jahmare Brown, who has been since been charged with murder in the incident, also had a criminal history, the AJC previously reported.

Brown has now been formally indicted by a grand jury. He is set to appear at a plea and arraignment hearing in September, Fulton County court records show.

That attack led officials to try to quell safety concerns on the Beltline. Dickens made public statements at the time detailing the city’s safety measures in place on the path, including police bike patrols, an extensive camera network and extra lighting.

Other violent incidents in the city made headlines this summer, leaving residents and visitors on edge despite the fact that crime is down in Atlanta and in major cities across the U.S.

A brutal stabbing on a MARTA train, a shooting on MARTA and the prior stabbing on the Beltline in a two-month span prompted reassurances from local officials that extra public safety measures were in place, especially with the FIFA World Cup in town this summer, the AJC previously reported.

In a mid-year report from the Major Cities Chiefs Association comparing violent crimes in major cities across the U.S. from January to June in 2025 and 2026, data shows nearly all violent crimes are down in Atlanta, with the exception of aggravated assaults, which increased this year. Homicides in the city went down from 50 in 2025 to 42 in the same time frame in 2026, the report shows.

Total violent crime is down so far this year compared to last year in major cities across the country, the report shows.

City Council member Dustin Hillis said while Atlanta’s homicides are down about 15% compared to last year, crimes can occur “no matter how many officers you put in an area.”

The police department’s cycling “path force,” which patrols the Beltline, responded quickly to the scene Sunday, Schierbaum said.

Assistant Chief Charles Hampton Jr. told city council members Monday that the department would maintain a visible presence along the bustling trail and even increase the number officers patrolling the Beltline.

“We encourage everyone to continue to use the Beltline, report suspicious activity, and we’ll make sure the Atlanta Police Department is right there with you in these spaces,” Schierbaum said.

Hillis said the Beltline has fewer “path force” officers now than it did when it first opened, even as the trail has expanded and grown in popularity.

While there were a few more positions funded in this year’s police budget, Hillis said it isn’t nearly enough to “achieve that same ratio of officers per mile.”

Several officials extended condolences to the families of those involved in Sunday’s stabbing and “all the people that had to witness that terrible incident,” Hillis said.