A Maplewood man was put on probation and spared prison for stabbing a man to death during a fight one year ago.
Maplewood man spared prison, put on probation for stabbing man to death during fight a year ago
He pleaded guilty manslaughter after murder charges were dropped.
July 31, 2023 at 9:53PM
Kevin D. Peterson, 62, of Maplewood, was sentenced Friday in Ramsey County District after pleading guilty to second-degree manslaughter in connection with the stabbing on July 29, 2022, of 30-year-old Richard D. Williams in the 300 block of E. Larpenteur Avenue, near Peterson's home. Williams, of St. Paul, died at Regions Hospital about 1 1⁄2 weeks later.
A four-year prison sentence was set aside by Judge Joy Bartscher in favor of Peterson being on probation for five years. He also was given credit for the roughly 11 1⁄2 months he spent in jail after his arrest.
Peterson's criminal complaint was amended on July 25 when the County Attorney's Office dropped charges of second-degree intentional and unintentional murder, and added the manslaughter count.
"The court granted the dispositional [downward sentencing] departure based on Mr. Peterson's limited criminal history, his amenability to probation, along with the unique facts of the case which included the victim being the aggressor of the confrontation," read a statement Monday afternoon from the County Attorney's Office.
Witnesses said Williams was stabbed six or seven times, including multiple times in the chest, according to the criminal complaint. One witness said Williams punched Peterson, sending him to the ground. Williams got on top of Peterson, who soon recovered and got on top of Williams, the charges continued.
Police arrested Peterson at his home. He said Williams punched him in the nose three or four times. "If I would've had a pistol, I should have shot him," the charges quoted him as saying. "I cut [him]. ... He hit me in the mouth twice."
The driver was identified as a 30-year-old from Inver Grove Heights.
