‘I felt like a 500-pound man punch me in the back’: Portland vegan strip club stabber enters plea

A Portland vegan strip club dancer who stabbed a DJ she worked with has pleaded not guilty to attempted murder charges.

According to Portland news outlet KPTV, Payton Lathan, a Casa Diablo Vegan Strip Club dancer for over 10 years, stabbed Duncan Allen, another longtime employee at the club, on Dec. 8. Reports say Lathan stabbed Allen three times while he prepared for work, once in the armpit and twice in the back. Club security camera video of the unprovoked attack has been shared online. Content warning: It’s graphic.

Punched in the back ‘… as hard as humanly possible’

Allen told KPTV, “I was on my computer getting some songs ready, and next thing I know, I felt like a 500-pound man punch me in the back, basically as hard as humanly possible.” Allen then said he turned around, expecting to see a “huge dude” trying to fight him, but instead, it was Lathan, standing there holding a knife, Allen said.

“I still didn’t know I was stabbed at that point. Then I took a breath in and realized my left lung had collapsed,” he added. Allen said he tried to stay calm until help arrived. Like Allen, Lathan had worked at the club for about a decade, and according to the club’s owner, Johnny Diablo Žūklė, while Lathan was “a little off,” she never exhibited “violent tendencies.” “She definitely had a mental health crisis,” Žūklė added. “I think she had intended to kill someone, and it just happened to be Duncan, and when I think about it, when she was in the dressing room for about 10 minutes, she seemed like she was possessed by a demon.”

‘I heard she got attempted murder. That’s awesome.’

According to Portland’s KOIN, after the stabbing, Allen fled to the kitchen, where staff called 911 and applied pressure to his wounds. When officers arrived, Allen told them Lathan had a “mental break.” As for Lathan, she fled the club and was arrested, hiding in bushes nearby. Two knives were also recovered.

According to court documents, Lathan told the police she planned to plead insanity and that Allen was a drug dealer, although there’s no evidence that’s the case. She also said she had no drugs or alcohol in her system when the attack happened. Portland’s KATU says Lathan’s been charged with attempting to commit any degree of murder or aggravated murder, assault in the second degree, assault in the first degree, and unlawful use of a weapon. She was held without bail, and on Dec. 17, Lathan pleaded not guilty in her first appearance.

Allen says he wishes Lathan’s signs of a mental health crisis were taken seriously and that because the attack was premeditated, she should be charged to the fullest extent of the law. “She could’ve cracked my ribs,” Allen added. “She could have stabbed me in the kidney. She could have stabbed me in the neck. She could have stabbed me in the spine. If I have to be honest with you, I think she should get charged the highest because the fact is this was premeditated,” Allen said.

After he was out of the hospital, he added, “I’m fine, this is going to be okay. And we’ll get through this. I didn’t cry. I thought I was going to cry. I thought I was going to have these huge feelings, and all I felt was more alive than I’ve ever felt before. So music is not slowing down.”