Witness who survived machete attack testifies during murder trial in Tampa

TAMPA, Fla. - The prosecution's star witness who said he survived a machete wielding killer took the stand during a Tampa murder trial Wednesday. 

The trial for Jason Hartness, a man accused of murdering one and injuring another with a machete, began this week. Philip Carver, a witness for prosecutors, testified at trial that he saw the defendant stab a man to death, and then go after him as well. 

"I was trying to get out of the yard, out of the house, away from Jason and the sword," Carver recalled. 

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Phillip Carver was the prosecution's star witness.

Carver’s near brush with death happened on the afternoon of April 28, 2021. He said he showed up to a home in Ruskin on 2nd Avenue SE looking for Hartness, who he considered a work friend. 

Carver said when he walked in, he noticed Hartness was high on meth. 

At some point, both he and Hartness ended up in a bedroom where the victim, Daniel Sanchez, was lying on a bed. Nothing was ever said to Sanchez when suddenly – Carver said – Hartness attacked him.

Jason Hartness is the accused killer on trial. 

"It all happened pretty fast. He stood up, stabbed the boy in the stomach, tried to cut me, and then out the door he went," he recalled. 

Carver remembers blood going everywhere, on the walls, on the bed and even on his face. He said that's when Hartness suddenly turned on him.

"I assume after I said ‘you didn’t have to kill him’ and I shouldn’t said that, Jason proceeded to try to cut me," shared Carver. 

Later, he showed the jury cuts all over his body including to the back of his head. He said he made a run for it while Hartness chased him with a machete down the street. 

Carver says he had injures from Hartness' attack in 2021.

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But the defense did their best to undercut Carver’s testimony. Hillsborough Public Defender Jamie Kane pointed out Carver lied to police during the investigation about his drug habit and witnessing the murder.

Carver said there was a reason for that.

"I was scared to death to figure out if that man knows what I’m thinking, he’s gonna come after me anyway, but he can’t stop me because I watched him kill that boy," he said. 

Hartness is charged with first-degree murder and attempted murder. The trial is expected to wrap up on Friday.