No charges will be filed against a Gaston man for his involvement in a fatal stabbing at a Meadowfield Road home Thursday.
Investigators from the Lexington County Sheriff’s Department consulted with prosecutors from the 11th Circuit Solicitor’s Office and determined 21-year-old Joshua Rossman acted in self-defense during an altercation with 19-year-old Rayshawn Porterfield. Lexington County Coroner Margaret Fisher said Porterfield died at the scene after being stabbed in the upper body.
“Based upon the findings of our investigation, Mr. Rossman retreated into the trailer and locked the door after he was injured in the initial assault,” Lexington County Sheriff Jay Koon said. “Mr. Porterfield later made his way into the trailer and continued the argument. The men fought inside the trailer and Mr. Rossman defended himself with a knife.”
Several eyewitness accounts from the scene corroborated this sequence of events, Koon said.
“After Mr. Rossman was apprehended near the scene, detectives determined he was wanted on unrelated arrest warrants for two counts of assault and battery, and a general sessions court bench warrant,” Koon said. “Mr. Rossman was arrested after receiving medical treatment for wounds sustained during his fight with Mr. Porterfield.”
Rossman was booked into the Lexington County Detention Center where he awaits a bond hearing for the previous charges.