Former Tri-Citian killed in Halloween stabbing in Yakima

A Yakima couple said they did everything they could to help a stabbing victim who staggered to their doorway Monday night as one of their young daughters was passing out Halloween candy.

With blood stains still on her porch Tuesday evening, Lorena Flores said she called 911 and applied pressure to a wound near the man’s rib cage while waiting for medics to arrive.

“It was scary,” said Flores, a nine-year resident of the typically quiet neighborhood.

The man, identified Tuesday by police as Christopher Gilchrist, a Tri-City native, died hours later at a Yakima hospital. Medical staff attempted emergency surgery, but told police that the 46-year-old had suffered a wound to his heart and unstoppable bleeding.

Flores said the man was in obvious distress.

“He could barely speak. He just said he needed help,” she said.

He may have arrived at the couple’s home, at the other end of the block and around the corner, because they were still giving out candy. Other neighbors said that block of Sixth Avenue had very few trick-or-treaters, in part because many of the houses were dark.

Officers quickly arrested an acquaintance of Gilchrist’s on suspicion of murder.

Police said they think Nick Bryant stabbed Gilchrist and his own wife, Tisha Bryant, following an argument at their apartment about 7:15 p.m. Gilchrist was a construction worker who had lived most of his life in the Tri-Cities, according to a funeral notice from his family.

Bryant, 28, was held on $1 million bail after a preliminary appearance before Judge Richard Bartheld in Yakima County Superior Court.

Tisha Bryant, 36, told police an argument about methamphetamine preceded the incident, according to an arrest report filed in court.

Tisha Bryant said that her husband had been using methamphetamine heavily during the past few days, the report said.

He accused her and Gilchrist of stealing his drugs, which she said led to the stabbing, police said.

A witness also told police that the suspect accused Gilchrist of sleeping with his wife, the report said.

The witness reported that Tisha Bryant and the other man began hitting the suspect outside the apartment. All three then went inside the apartment, and the witness reported that he soon heard a commotion and Tisha Bryant’s screams for someone to call the police, the report said.

Tisha Bryant reported that she purchased the “large, collector-style knife” used in the stabbing for her husband, police said.

Investigators recovered the weapon close to where Nick Bryant was arrested, several blocks away from the apartment building.

Tisha Bryant was stabbed in the abdomen but is expected to recover, police said.

A marriage license for the couple was recorded in the Yakima Herald-Republic last year.

Nick Bryant has no other felony criminal history in Washington, court records said.

A 2013 charge of domestic-violence harassment, apparently involving another woman, was ultimately dismissed in Yakima Municipal Court.

Gilchrist’s death marks the fourth homicide in the county since Oct. 26 and the 15th of the year.

This story was originally published November 2, 2016 at 5:08 PM with the headline "Former Tri-Citian killed in Halloween stabbing in Yakima."