An Aquinnah man pleaded not guilty in Edgartown district court Wednesday morning following a stabbing in Vineyard Haven late Tuesday.

The stabbing victim was airlifted to Boston Tuesday night. As of yesterday afternoon, the victim had survived heart surgery but his condition remained critical, according to Tisbury police, who have been in regular contact with staff at Beth Israel Hospital where the victim is being treated.

Late yesterday police issued a public call for any witnesses to the incident to telephone the station at 508-696-4240.

Tisbury police chief Dan Hanavan said police were called to a house on Spring street at 5:56 p.m. Tuesday, where they found the victim and began treating him. His alleged assailant had left the scene but turned himself in at the Tisbury police station 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 associate justice Lance Garth that Mr. Eghill, a native of Jamaica, had stabbed the victim in the heart with a work knife. The victim was in critical condition and his survival was questionable, Ms. Marshard said.

Mr. Eghill had not obtained counsel before his arraignment, but defense attorney Charles Morano spoke for him. Mr. Eghill appeared to have acted in self-defense while the victim was holding a machete over his head, Mr. Morano said, noting an account given to police by a witness to the assault. Mr. Eghill has a defensive wound on his arm.

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 the surrender of Mr. Eghill’s passport and green card and that if he made bail he would have to wear a court-imposed GPS tracking device. Mr. Eghill has the right to have his bail reviewed by a Superior Court judge.

The police report details the early evening events. According to the witness, Mr. Eghill and the victim were standing face to face in the street. The victim held a machete over his head and attempted to strike Mr. Eghill. Mr. Eghill, his work knife in his right hand, pushed the victim away with both hands, stabbing the victim in the heart.

Mr. Eghill’s statement confirms this account and adds that he used his left arm to block the blow from the machete. According to Mr. Eghill’s statement, as detailed in the police report, after a confrontation inside the Spring street home, the victim met Mr. Eghill outside and ran to the cab of his pickup to get a machete.

There was a question of whether the assistant district attorney would have to recuse herself from prosecuting Mr. Eghill. She prosecuted the victim in a case five years ago.

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.

Both men had arrived at the Spring street address to see their children. Mr. Eghill’s wife called the police to report the incident and later, after speaking with her husband, to inform them that he would be turning himself in. According to Chief Hanavan, “State police also were involved and assisted in processing the crime scene.”

Both the victim’s and defendant’s cars have been processed by the state police.

A pretrial conference is set for Monday in district court.