An Aquinnah man appeared in Edgartown district court Wednesday morning following a stabbing in Vineyard Haven late Tuesday.

The stabbing victim was airlifted to Boston Tuesday night and remained unconscious and in a serious condition at last report, at 3:30 a.m. Tuesday, said Tisbury police chief Daniel Hanavan.

Chief Hanavan said police were called to a house on Spring street at 5:56 p.m. where they found the victim. His alleged assailant had left the scene, but turned himself in about an hour later.

Ovando Eghill was charged with assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, a knife.

Cape and Islands assistant district attorney Laura Marshard told Judge Lance Garth that Mr. Eghill, a native of Jamaica, had stabbed the victim with a work knife in the heart. The victim was now in critical condition at Beth Israel Hospital, and his survival is questionable, Ms. Marshard said.

Mr. Eghill had not obtained counsel, but defense attorney Charles Morano spoke for him. Mr. Eghill appeared to have acted in self-defense, while a man was holding a machete over his head, Mr. Morano said.

Mr. Eghill has no criminal record and surrendered himself to police, Mr. Morano said. He is a legal, permanent resident of the Unites States who has lived on the Island for the past five years and has a five-month-old child, the attorney said, adding that the defendant had worked at Flanders Construction for the past four years. Mr. Eghill’s wife, father in law and employer all attended the bail hearing.

The judge set bail at $50,000 cash with a number of conditions including that Mr. Eghill surrender his passport and green card and wear a court-imposed GPS tracking device.

Chief Hanavan said the stabbing apparently arose from a domestic dispute. The chief said one man was married to the other’s former wife.

“The ex-husband is the one in the hospital,” he said.

“State police also were involved and assisted in processing the crime scene.”