Clay Today staff
ORANGE PARK – A convicted felon is charged in the March 9 stabbing death of a man in a Madison Avenue home.
Brandon Alan Hand, 25, was arrested three days after getting into a fight with Joseph Andrew Comley, 33, at Comley’s home, according to a Clay County Sheriff’s Office arrest report. Comley was taken to Orange Park Medical Center where he died of his wounds.
The Sheriff’s office said detectives interviewed Hand at the scene but he was not immediately arrested. Witnesses told detectives that Hand was attempting to leave the home in the 500 block of Madison Avenue about 8:45 p.m. when Comley began hitting him and Hand responded by stabbing him.
An March 7 domestic violence incident involving a female resident at the home may have sparked the deadly fight. Hand was a witness to that incident after the fact and tensions may have carried over, resulting in the confrontation that led to the stabbing, said Mary Justino, Sheriff's Office spokesperson.
In addition to second-degree murder, Hand is charged with possession of a concealed weapon by a convicted felon, the report says.
He is being held in the Clay County Jail on $15,000 bond.
