Knife-Wielding Taunton Man Sentenced to State Prison

FALL RIVER (WBSM) — A Taunton man will serve jail time for a knife assault in which he sliced a man’s hand.

Bristol County District Attorney Thomas M. Quinn III said that Cye Key, 25, was convicted on August 11 of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon. He was sentenced to serve three and a half to eight years in state prison.

Key was also acquitted of armed assault in a dwelling and a second count of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon.

Details of the 2024 Knife Assault

The charges date back to July 2, 2024, when Taunton Police responded to the Paul Bunker Housing Development at about 12:45 p.m. for a reported disturbance. Police then learned of a fight the night prior in the same area, when Key and another male had gotten into a physical altercation over the other male’s use of Key’s bicycle. The victim of the knife assault, Issiah Cruz, then got involved in that fight.

READ MORE: Arrest Made in Taunton Stabbing

The next day, Key went to the apartment and confronted Cruz with a knife, slicing his hand. Cruz fled the apartment. A fight then broke out between Key, Cruz and Cruz’s brother. Police arrived to find Key with a knife sheath in his waistband and located a broken knife blade inside the apartment. Cruz identified it as the one Key had used to slice his hand.

Prior Convictions and Criminal History

Key was previously sentenced in 2019 to five to seven years in state prison as a youthful offender stemming from a failed robbery and shooting at a Taunton liquor store in 2017.

READ MORE: Taunton Liquor Store Shooter Sentenced

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District Attorney’s Statement on the Case

"This is another act of senseless violence committed by the defendant who was previously convicted for a very serious robbery. I am pleased the jury convicted the defendant despite the lack of cooperation from the victim and witnesses,” D.A. Quinn said. “The defendant clearly is a danger to the community and needs to be kept off the street to protect the public.”