Parks worker, 19, 'stabs to death caterer with a 3-inch knife in argument over wedding chairs during the reception'

What started out as a mundane argument over chairs at an outdoor wedding reception in Virginia Saturday night ended with a caterer getting stabbed to death by a 19-year-old man, according to police.

Kempton Bonds, a seasonal employee of the Fairfax County Park Authority, has been charged with second-degree murder in the killing of 35-year-old Tyonne Johns.

Johns, the owner of the Maryland-based catering company Chef Tyonne, was stabbed to death at the end of a wedding celebration held in Ellanor C. Lawrence Park in Chantilly, Fairfax County.

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Killed over chairs: Kempton Bonds, 19 (left), a seasonal parks worker from Virginia, has been charged in the stabbing death of caterer Tyonne Johns (right), 35, during a dispute over chairs

The stabbing took place during a wedding reception in Ellanor C. Lawrence Park in Chantilly, Fairfax County, Saturday 

Investigators say Johns and Kempton Bonds clashed over the ownership of folding chairs used during the reception, with the caterer claiming they were hers and the 19-year-old arguing that they were park property.

Minutes later, police say the teenager pulled out a pocketknife and plunged it several times into Johns' upper body.

The 35-year-old chef was rushed to a local hospital, where she died from her wounds.

Seymone Spence, a bartender at the wedding reception and Tyonne Johns' close friend, said Kempton Bonds had been upset with the behavior of the wedding guests throughout the evening, and at one point he even shut off power at the venue and called police to make a noise complaint.

Professional cook: Johns was a chef and owner of the Maryland-based catering company Chef Tyonne. She had been hired to cater a wedding Saturday in the Fairfax County park 

Johns (center) was stabbed several times with a 3-inch knife and died in the hospital 

By the time police arrived at the scene at around 9.30pm, the incident had been resolved and the celebration had resumed.

The festivities were wrapping up at around 11pm when Bonds confronted Johns about the folding chairs she was loading onto a truck, and then knifed her with a 3-inch blade, according to police.

Was it a hate crime? Johns' friends claim the chef's suspected killer took a dislike to her because she was lesbian 

Bonds remained at the scene and was taken into custody without incident. He was being held without bond at the Fairfax County Adult Detention Center Monday.

Nick Martin, a friend of the 19-year-old, told the Washington Post the violent incident was out of character for Bonds, who is a student at Northern Virginia Community College.

Martin told the paper that his friend called him during the wedding reception and said that guests were complaining about the rules he had to enforce at the venue.

Bonds has been a seasonal employee with the parks authority since 2015, helping with various events.

Chef Johns was lesbian, and her friends and members of the LGBT community have labelled her killing a hate crime, even though police have not classified the stabbing as such.

Bonds (pictured) is a student at Northern Virginia Community College and has worked with the parks authority since 2015

Tensions rise: Prior to the stabbing, Bonds had called police to make a noise complaint at the wedding venue. He also told a friend that guests at the reception were upset with him 

Eraena Seymore has launched a GoFundMe campaign to raise money for Johns' final expenses, writing in the fundraiser's description: ‘CHEF Tyonne, was senselessly murdered on August 6, 2016 for standing up for what she believed. All too often our lives are taken away at the hands of those who deem our existence unnecessary.'

Seymone Spence, who is also lesbian and was at the wedding with her same-sex partner, sounded a similar note, telling the station WUSA that Kempton Bonds appeared to have ‘no respect’ for gay people.

‘The way he tried to dictate everything around us was just wrong,’ she said. ‘He knew he was going to hurt somebody. If anybody would've said something, it just so happened to be Ty because she had to separate the chairs. She ordered chairs - chairs took my friend’s life.’