SUNBURY – Sunbury police are trying to figure out why a man stabbed and injured his mother, and fatally stabbed his mom’s boyfriend. 20-year-old Edgar Gearhart was taken into custody Wednesday, soon after the incidents. He is said to have killed Robert Blake in the 600 block of North Fifth Street early that morning.
The incident followed some drinking and an argument between the two. Then police say he injured his mother, Amy Gearhart. The motive for that attack is not known. She is out of the hospital today. Edgar Gearhart was charged with an open count of criminal homicide and attempted homicide charges, along with several other counts.
Sunbury Police Chief Brad Hare says an autopsy will be done today on Blake, but a motive for the stabbing is not yet clear, “We know it was some type of domestic dispute. What prompted that dispute is still under investigation. It’s not over. There is more too it then just filing charges. There is a lot to do now and people don’t realize that. Something like that, there is a ton of follow-up.”
Hare says the Sunbury Police Department is short-staffed, so it will be a challenge for them in the days and weeks ahead while they investigate the stabbing, “We are doing the best we can with what we have. We are still working with the city, the mayor and the council to try to do something to keep things going here. I do have to do give guys days off to rest. Obviously, it’s a burden on everybody here.”
Edgar Gearheart was sent to the Snyder County Prison, without bail, and he awaits a court hearing next month. (Ali Stevens)