Jeannette man gets up to 23 months in jail for stabbing man in chest

A Jeannette man will serve up to nearly two years in jail for assaulting another man on the porch of his home last spring.

Marlon C. “Star” Williams, 40, pleaded guilty Monday to charges of aggravated assault and reckless endangerment for the stabbing. Police said Williams used a three-inch knife during a June 13 fight with 22- year-old Louis Bevilacqua in front of his South 12th Street home and plunged the weapon into his upper chest. Bevilacqua survived his injuries.

Witnesses told police Williams, his girlfriend and daughter were walking by when Bevilacqua summoned them to his porch to talk. Williams and his girlfriend started to argue and he threatened to throw her off the porch, witnesses said.

According to court records, witnesses claimed Williams appeared to be drunk at the time and that Bevilacqua attempted to intercede during the verbal altercation, police said.

Police said they initially found Williams in a nearby alley, shirtless and covered with what they described as blood droplets, and he claimed he stabbed Bevilacqua in self defense.

Williams, whose trial was slated to start Monday, pleaded guilty to two counts. Prosecutors dismissed a second charge of aggravated assault and an allegation that he made terroristic threats against Bevilacqua.

Westmoreland County Common Pleas Court Judge Tim Krieger sentenced Williams to serve 11 1/2-to-23 months in jail and an additional six months on probation.

Rich Cholodofsky is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Rich at 724-830-6293 or rcholodofsky@tribweb.com.