Police: Stabbing Victim Credited With Protecting Woman, Child In Delaware

By Diana Rocco

WILMINGTON, Del., (CBS) – Police say a man died Monday night after he was stabbed in Wilmington, Delaware.

According to police, he tried to stop a man armed with a knife from attacking a woman and her child.

Balloons and a memorial in Wilmington's Rodney Square Tuesday for 27-year-old Thomas Cottingham.

"His blood is right there on the ground. Gives you goosebumps. I just saw him like probably an hour before he even died. None of it makes sense. It doesn't," said a friend.

"It was terrible. I couldn't believe it myself and it's a shame that a great person like him went," said another friend.

Police say Cottingham died protecting a woman and her child allegedly being chased by 25-year-old Calvin Hooker, III. Police say he allegedly had a knife and he was running after the woman pushing her infant in a stroller.  The woman ran to the bus stop and boarded a bus when Cottingham stepped in to save her, according to police. Police say Hooker allegedly stabbed him in the back and torso.

"This was senseless and it's wrong. You took a good person's life for nothing," said a friend.

Police say they found Hooker in a nearby bus. Police then tazed him when he wouldn't drop the knife and took him into custody, according to authorities. Cottingham was known to friends as "Cannibal," an aspiring artist and rapper with a big heart who always came to the aid of someone in trouble.

"We all know Cannibal as a rapper. His weird hairstyle, his crazy eyes, he was the type of person who was spontaneous," said a friend.

"He was definitely a kind-hearted person. Definitely," said another friend.

Police say there was no connection between Hooker and the woman he was allegedly chasing Monday night. Hooker is now behind bars facing first degree murder charges, among others.