Leon Allen Smith pleaded guilty Friday to second-degree murder and obstruction of justice in connection to the stabbing death of 45-year-old Stephan Manuel Pool.
Smith, 29, admitted to stabbing Pool once in the heart using his pocket knife because he became enraged after seeing his girlfriend give Pool a hug and a “peck on the cheek,” according to prosecutors.
“You want my girlfriend,” said Smith, before stabbing Pool once in the heart, said prosecutors.
Pool was dropping off Smith’s girlfriend at Pools residence in the 200 block of N Street Southwest, according to charging documents.
On Sept. 2, 2012, police found Pool sitting in the drivers seat of his blue SUV, unconscious but still breathing. He was suffering from a stab wound to his left chest, and was transported to George Washington Hospital where he died from his injuries according to court documents.
Smith ran from the scene but was detained by a nearby cop who responded to the call and saw Smith toss a blue pocket knife to the ground, said prosecutors.
Smith is also charged with obstruction of justice for trying to convince his girlfriend to give false statements to police in order to help his case.
During Friday’s hearing, Assistant U.S. Attorney Melinda Williams, read the factual proffer which referenced several jail calls between Smith and his girlfriend. In the recorded calls Smith asks her to say it was an accident, that she was intoxicated at the time of the incident, and that she was coerced by police to give her statements, said Williams.
As part of the plea agreement prosecutors said they will not charge Smith with the other nine charges of obstruction of justice and for carrying a dangerous weapon which he was indicted on in March.
Smith is facing 24 to 25 years in prison and will be sentenced on July 25, at 11 a.m. by Judge John Ramsey Johnson.
Plea documents have been added below.
