Man Guilty Of Fatally Stabbing Woman Trying To Break Up Bar Fight
UNIONTOWN (AP) - A man has been convicted of third-degree murder for stabbing a woman who was trying to keep the defendant from stabbing her brother outside a bar.
A Fayette County jury convicted 24-year-old Darius Samuel, of Uniontown, after less than four hours of deliberations Wednesday.
Police say around 1:45 a.m. on Feb. 22, 2014, 21-year-old Rashaunda Fitzgerald, 25-year-old Trenton Branch, 21-year-old Montaque Wilson and 25-year-old Cornell Neal were all involved in a fight outside of the Goal Post Lounge.
Branch, Wilson and Neal all sustained non-life threatening injuries from stab wounds. However, Fitzgerald died at Uniontown Hospital.
Samuel was taken into custody and charged with homicide the same day.
His attorney argued that Samuel, at most, accidentally stabbed Fitzgerald, as he tried to get past her.
But prosecutors say Samuel plunged the knife into her chest up to its hilt after lying in wait outside the bar.
Samuel and the victim's brother had previously argued inside the bar.
Samuel faces a maximum 20- to 40-year prison term when he's sentenced Nov. 13.
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