Court upholds life sentences for man convicted of 2014 stabbing

SDN Staff Report

The Mississippi Supreme Court in January denied an Oktibbeha County man’s appeal to overturn his life sentences as a habitual offender.

Circuit Court Judge Lee Howard sentenced Akeem Rasheed, of Crawford, who has an extensive criminal history, to two terms of life in prison with no possibility of parole under the state’s habitual offender law.

The Mississippi Supreme Court denied the appeal on Jan. 18.

Rasheed was convicted after a jury determined he kicked in the door of his girlfriend’s apartment on July 29, 2014. During the ensuing struggle, he pulled a knife from his back pocket and stabbed the father of the woman’s 5-year-old daughter, according to court documents.

Because the charges in the stabbing incident included two counts, the judge sentenced Rasheed to two terms of life in prison, to run concurrently.

The Starkville Daily News reported in December that the Mississippi District 3 Court of Appeals denied Rasheed’s request for a new hearing.

Rasheed denied stabbing the man when he took the stand during the trial. In the motion for a new hearing, his attorney said the judge erred by not allowing the jury to consider self-defense. The judge said that testimony didn’t support a self-defense claim.