UPDATED: Man being held in jail without bond for machete attack

An argument over someone allegedly sleeping with someone else’s girlfriend resulted in two local residents being assaulted with a machete early Saturday morning, and a Corbin man being held in the Whitley County Detention Center without bond on attempted murder charges.

Whitley District Judge Fred White entered a not guilty plea Monday morning for James A. Fields, 40, of Mitchell Hill Road, who was charged with two counts of attempted murder, two counts of first-degree assault, and for second-degree fleeing or evading police.

White ordered Fields to be held without bond noting that his charges classify him as a possible danger to society and a flight risk.

White appointed the public advocate’s office to represent Fields, and scheduled a July 25 preliminary hearing in his case.

Whitley County Sheriff’s Deputy Tim Baker arrested Fields about 4 a.m. Saturday at a residence at 146 Mitchell Hill Road.
Fields was at the home drinking beer with several other subjects when an argument broke out between him, Adam Anderson, 43, Sandra Shelton, 50, and Brenda Canada, 41,  over "someone sleeping with someone else’s girlfriend," Baker wrote on the arrest citation.

According to Whitley County Sheriff Colan Harrell, Fields, Anderson, Shelton and Canada were sitting around drinking beer and listening to gospel music in the living room when the altercation broke out shortly before 2 a.m.

Two witnesses and one of the victims told police that Fields left the residence, went outside for a few minutes, and returned with a large machete that he used to strike Anderson in the face and Shelton in the right arm, police said.

"The accused was there at the residence when the argument was going on. From what we could get out of it, he got tired of hearing the argument, went outside, got a machete, came back and ended the argument," Harrell said.

Both victims were taken to Baptist Regional Medical Center with large open lacerations, according to the arrest citation.
Harrell said that he doesn’t know if the two victims stayed in the hospital over night, but each is expected to survive their injuries.

Fields allegedly fled the scene into the woods behind his residence when police showed up and tried to locate him, Baker wrote.
After Baker left the scene to get statements from the victims at the hospital, police received information that Fields had returned to the residence. Baker returned to the scene along with Kentucky State Police Sgt. Bill Elliot and Corbin Police K-9 Sgt. Coy Wilson.

Police checked the residence, but didn’t find Fields and left. Wilson walked back to the scene with his police dog, Luka, and hid in the shadows across the road from the home. Police then caught Fields when he returned to the residence.
He was then handcuffed, placed under arrest without incident and lodged in the Whitley County Detention Center.