A 19-year-old Tucson man who stabbed one officer and shot another is facing between 31 1/2 and 60 years in prison after pleading guilty Tuesday to four counts of aggravated assault on a police officer.
Travis Hylton was originally facing three counts of attempted first-degree murder, nine counts of aggravated assault and one count of endangerment after his arrest in May 2008.
Hylton broke into a home near East Prince Road and North Mountain Avenue where his sister was baby-sitting his 14-month-old daughter, according to police.
When Officers Edward Boyen and Dawn Paglinawan arrived, police said, Hylton had barricaded himself inside with the tot.
The officers forced their way inside the house, but Hylton managed to get Boyen to the ground and stab him four times, once in the chest. Paglinawan grabbed the child and shot Hylton once, hitting him in the shoulder, police said.
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As Paglinawan was helping Boyen out of the house, Hylton followed them, firing Boyen's gun at them and another officer.
Hylton went back into the house and was trying to run through a back door when he ran into additional officers.
He shot one of those officers, David Friedman, in the thigh, police said.
Friedman fired back four times but did not hit Hylton.
Officers later found Hylton hiding in a nearby yard.
An investigation found Hylton had emptied Boyen's gun, which carries 15 rounds.
The injured officers ultimately were able to return to work.
Pima County court records show that before the incident, Hylton had been arrested on 44 criminal offenses since the age of 10.
Most of those charges were dismissed because doctors deemed Hylton was incompetent. Hylton also was declared incompetent to stand trial in this case, but after spending nearly a year in a specialized restoration program, doctors deemed him competent.
In an August letter written to Pima County Superior Court Judge Howard Fell, Hylton said the devil had led him astray, but he had since found God. He also expressed a desire to go to college or a vocational school so he could one day own his own business.
He asked for Fell's forgiveness and that of the officers. He also blessed them.
"See your honor, bible studies has taught me a lot, and as well as my fellow Christian inmates, have taught me to see that love, joy and peace, is all that I will ever need," Hylton wrote.
