Marvin Moore was sentenced Friday to 12 years in prison for stabbing his friend, Timothy Benjamin, five times, causing his death in September 2013.
Moore pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter in October, but later wrote a letter to Judge Russell Canan asking the court to withdraw his guilty plea because he was not adequately represented.
On Monday the court received a second letter from Moore stating he was ready to move forward with sentencing and that he takes full responsibility for what happened.
“Me and the guy were tight and I cry every night over the incident,” wrote Moore in his second letter.
In court Friday Moore said his intention was to “get [Benjamin] off of me.”
“I am not a murderer, I’m not a bad person,” he told the court.
Moore said fifty-eight-year-old Benjamin was under the influence of K2, a synthetic form of cannabis, and struck Moore repeatedly before Moore stabbed him.
Canan responded by telling Moore he had done a very wise thing working out the plea agreement and that if the case had gone to trial he could be facing 20 to 30 years.
“You’ve been a violent member of our community for 20 years. The facts are there,” Canan said.
Defense attorney Brandi Hardon asked the court for a sentence of no more than six years saying Moore took responsibility from the very beginning and that Moore was intoxicated.
“He’s an alcoholic and was drinking heavily with his friend Mr. Benjamin that night,” Hardon said.
Hardon also asked the court to disregard his first letter saying Moore had received some bad advice from jail and other places.
According to charging documents, Moore and Benjamin got into an argument in an alley near the 5300 block of Georgia Avenue about which man would take a third person home. The third person told police that they decided to go home with Moore. As a result, according to that witness, Benjamin invited Moore to fight.
Prosecution attorney Michelle Bradford said Benjamin put up his bare hands and said to Moore, “let’s go.”
“On the night that this occurred there was no significant provocation for the defendant to stab him five times,” Bradford said.
Bradford said Moore reacted with excessive force and asked Canan that Moore be sentenced to 11 years. The victim’s family declined to make any impact statements on behalf of the prosecution.
