Convicted killer admits brutal Upper Darby stabbing
MEDIA COURTHOUSE » A convicted murderer set to proceed to trial Tuesday for a December 2015 stabbing instead pleaded guilty to aggravated assault and was sentenced to nine to 20 years in a state prison.
A jury had already been selected when Rashon A. Solice entered a negotiated guilty plea to aggravated assault causing serious bodily injury for the Dec. 19, 2015, stabbing of a 26-year-old Upper Darby man.
Solice, of the 4600 block of Conshohocken Avenue, was identified by two witnesses as the aggressor in an affidavit of probable cause prepared by Criminal Investigator Christopher Karr.
Upper Darby Police Officer Michael Givens was outside the 7-Eleven at 639 Long Lane at about 9:11 p.m. when he was approached by a female covered in blood, according to the affidavit. The woman told Givens that a man had been stabbed outside a home on the 600 block of Copley Road and was being transported to Delaware County Memorial Hospital.
Officer Michael DeHoratius went to the Copley Road address and found “a large amount of blood” on the sidewalk, front steps and front door, the affidavit states. He was soon met by another witness who said he had just dropped the victim off at the hospital.
Karr and Criminal Investigator William Sminkey spoke with the victim at Delaware County Memorial Hospital as he was being attended to by emergency medical personnel. He indicated he was stabbed by “Rashon,” his girlfriend’s sister’s boyfriend.
The victim was transported to Crozer-Chester Medical Center for emergency surgery on stab wounds to his chest and arm. Assistant District Attorney Michael Mattson said the man has since recovered, though he does still experience pain in his chest.
The female witness said Solice had knocked on the door of the Copley Road residence earlier that night looking for a woman named “Nicole.” The witness said she told Solice Nicole was not there. The victim and Solice began arguing at the door and Solice eventually left, saying, “Whatever, I’ll be back,” according to the affidavit.
The woman said Solice and her sister came back to the house a short time later and the victim went outside. She said she heard Solice ask the victim if he had a gun.
“No, what I need a gun for?” the victim asked.
“Well, I told you I was coming back,” Solice responded, then stabbed the victim in the neck or shoulder, according to the witness.
Solice sped away in a burgundy Grand Marquis, according to the affidavit. The vehicle was later recovered 50th and Spruce streets in Philadelphia, according to police.
Both witnesses positively identified Solice from photo arrays. He was arrested Jan. 12, 2016, and charged with attempted murder, simple and aggravated assault, reckless endangerment, harassment and possessing an instrument of crime. The remaining charges were dismissed under the negotiated guilty plea worked out by Mattson and defense counsel Fortunato N. Perri Jr.
Solice has a history of violent offenses. He pleaded guilty to a murder in Philadelphia in 1998 and was sentenced to eight to 20 years. He was also arrested for burglary and related offenses in Philadelphia in 2008, and for assault, trespassing and cruelty to children in Florida in 2015.
In addition to prison time, Solice was ordered to provide a DNA sample to state police and have no contact with the victim or witnesses. He is not eligible for early release, but was given credit for time served.