A man is fighting for his life after being stabbed at a North Knoxville convenience store Saturday morning, and the suspect police say fled the scene remains on the run hours later. Knoxville police are searching for 41-year-old Corey Huff in connection with the stabbing, which happened at the KenJo Market at 1704 North Broadway, and a subsequent hit-and-run crash on the far side of the city.
According to WVLT, the victim sustained critical, life-threatening injuries in the attack. Police believe Huff then fled the area and was involved in a hit-and-run near the interchange of Interstate 40 and Interstate 75 in West Knoxville before continuing west, according to WBIR. He was last seen driving a red pickup truck westbound on I-40.
The KenJo Market sits approximately a quarter-mile east of Knoxville Police Department headquarters at 1650 Huron Street, according to Shell, which operates the 24-hour gas station and convenience store at that address. North Broadway is a major commercial corridor feeding into downtown Knoxville, meaning the stabbing unfolded just blocks from the very department now leading the search for Huff.
Officers Saturating the Interstate Corridor
Knoxville police are conducting what they describe as an active manhunt stretching across the city's interstate corridor, with officers doing area saturation and following leads as they try to track Huff down. The hit-and-run occurred near the I-40/I-75 junction.
Police have told the public not to approach Huff under any circumstances. Anyone with information on his whereabouts is urged to call 911 immediately or contact East Tennessee Valley Crime Stoppers at 865-215-7165. Crime Stoppers expanded its tip system last November with a text-to-tip option — texting ETTips to 738477 — to go along with its phone hotline, web portal and mobile app, and the organization offers cash rewards of up to $2,000 for tips that lead to an arrest.
What Huff Could Face If Caught
If Huff is apprehended, the stabbing could expose him to a Class C felony aggravated assault charge under Tennessee Code Annotated § 39-13-102, which covers assaults resulting in serious bodily injury or involving a deadly weapon. That charge carries a statutory sentence of 3 to 15 years in prison and fines up to $10,000, according to Justia Law.
Separately, Tennessee motor vehicle law under T.C.A. § 55-10-101 and § 55-10-102 requires drivers involved in accidents causing personal injury to stop immediately and render aid. Violations are punishable as a Class A misdemeanor, but the offense can escalate to a felony if death or severe injury was reasonably known to the driver at the time, and a conviction carries mandatory driver's license revocation.
A Violent Incident Against a Backdrop of Falling Crime
The stabbing comes as Knoxville has otherwise been trending toward historically low levels of violent crime. The Knoxville Police Department reported in April that the city recorded zero homicides during the first quarter of 2026 — its first homicide-free first quarter since 1988 — alongside an 82 percent drop in non-fatal shooting victims compared to the same period in 2025, with officials crediting targeted person-based and place-based enforcement.
That downward trend has largely held through the year. Knoxville had recorded four homicides through early September, a 50 percent decrease from the eight recorded over the same stretch in 2025, with non-fatal shootings down 38 percent year-to-date. The city's 2024 total of 23 homicides was itself down from 24 the year before and sat eight below Knoxville's five-year average.
Hoodline has previously reported on overnight gunfire in a North Knoxville park that left two men hurt in August. The condition and identity of Saturday's stabbing victim, the motive behind the attack, and whether Huff remains in the red pickup truck all remain unknown as the search continues.
