Yakima man sought after stabbing
<div style="font-size: 12.8px;"><span style="font-family: Fredoka One;"><span style="font-size: 13.3333px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Moses Lake police are searching for stabbing suspect Travis Franklin, 26, of Yakima.?</span></span></div>
MOSES LAKE — Moses Lake police are searching for a Yakima man who reportedly stabbed a Moses Lake man in the neck last week.
About 8:30 a.m. on Wednesday the Moses Lake Police Department received a report of an individual with a cut throat at an apartment complex in the 1000 block of West Third Avenue. The 29-year-old victim told police he had been robbed and stabbed in the neck sometime during the night, according to Capt. Dave Sands.
Detectives learned the assault was planned by the victim’s girlfriend, identified as Judy Kirchoff, 25, of Spokane, and another woman, identified as Christiann Artz, 38, of Moses Lake, “possibly” because of the victim’s involvement with drugs and another woman. Kirchoff and Artz reportedly enlisted the assistance of Travis Franklin, 26, of Yakima, and they approached the victim at his apartment on Third Avenue sometime during the night on May 10, or early in the morning hours of May 11.
Kirchoff, Artz and Franklin allegedly bound the victim and assaulted him. Kirchoff and Artz eventually left the apartment and Kirchoff was contacted and arrested by an MLPD officer on a Department of Corrections arrest warrant. After Kirchoff and Artz left the apartment Franklin allegedly cut the victim’s throat.
“At this point the victim was able to fight back, but eventually passed out from the assault,” Sands said.
Artz later returned to the apartment with a third woman, identified as Kimberly Halstead, 22, of Moses Lake. The victim was transported to the hospital for treatment and has since been released.
Kirchoff, Halstead and Artz have been taken into custody in connection with the incident, but Franklin is still on the run. Kirchoff was arrested for kidnapping, Artz was arrested for kidnapping and robbery and Halstead was arrested for tampering with evidence, with more charges expected to be added.
Franklin is wanted for attempted homicide, kidnapping, robbery and first degree assault. He is described as 5-feet-8-inches tall, 150 pounds, with a scar on the right side of his forehead and a tattoo on the right side of his neck.
To report information about this case please contact the Moses Lake Police Department at 509-764-3887.