A 60-year-old Minneapolis man was sentenced to about nine years in prison for fatally stabbing another man with a single strike during a domestic dispute.
James W. McDaniel's sentence for second-degree murder last week in Hennepin County District Court gave him credit for 13 months in jail since his arrest, meaning he will serve about five years in prison and the balance on supervised release.
McDaniel, who lived in the apartment where the killing occurred, pleaded guilty earlier to the January 2017 stabbing of 35-year-old Cassidine F. Hazley, of Fridley.
The sentence is less than state guidelines suggest, but a court filing explained that the shorter term was justified because Hazley "was [an] aggressor" in the incident.
Officers found Hazley at the residence in the 2100 block of 3rd Avenue S. on a couch and bleeding from a single stab wound to the upper chest. He was being tended to by his girlfriend but was soon declared dead at the scene.
Hazley's mother, who described herself to authorities as "married" to McDaniel, told law enforcement there was drinking in the apartment when her son started banging on the door of a bedroom where McDaniel was talking with Hazley's sister.
McDaniel opened the door and stabbed Hazley, the mother continued.
Under police questioning, McDaniel acknowledged lunging at Hazley with the knife.
