Man draws prison for knife assault

NORRISTOWN » An Ambler man is on his way to state prison after he admitted to using a “fixed-blade knife” to attack and seriously injure another man during a New Year’s Eve 2015 altercation outside a Lansdale residence.

Deshawn Newman, now 19, of the 200 block of Southern Avenue, was sentenced in Montgomery County Court to two to four years in a state correctional facility after he pleaded guilty to a felony charge of aggravated assault, causing serious bodily injury, in connection with the 10:43 p.m. Dec. 31, 2015, incident outside a residence in the 500 block of Cypress Street in Lansdale.

Judge Garrett D. Page also ordered Newman to complete 15 years’ probation following parole, meaning Newman will be under court supervision for a total of 19 years.

County District Attorney Benjamin McKenna sought a lengthy state prison term against Newman, citing the serious nature of the injuries suffered by the 26-year-old victim. McKenna previously said the victim suffered deep lacerations to his face, broken facial bones and broken tendons in his fingers that incapacitated him. He had to have several surgeries on his face, McKenna said previously. Newman was 17 years old at the time of the assault but was charged as an adult due to the serious nature of the crime. Earlier this year, Newman lost a bid to transfer his case to juvenile court, where potential penalties are less severe.

Defense lawyer Abigail Leeds argued for a mitigated sentence, citing Newman’s young age, adding Newman, who had faced a possible maximum sentence of 10 to 20 years in prison on the charge, has been a productive member of society while free on bail awaiting court action on the charges.

“Since the time of the offense, he’s graduated high school with a 4.0, he’s in college fulltime and he’s working,” Leeds said. “He does have potential. He was very remorseful when he saw the effects that his actions had on the (victim’s) life.”

An investigation began shortly before 11 p.m. on Dec. 31, 2015, when Lansdale police responded to the Cypress Street address for a reported assault. Upon arrival police found a male victim bleeding heavily from several wounds.

“(The victim) had three gaping wounds to the right side of his face as well as cutting wounds to the palms of both hands,” detectives wrote in an affidavit of probable cause.

The victim was transported to a local hospital for emergency treatment and later transferred to a hospital in Philadelphia. Police said the man suffered a broken jaw and severed tendons in his hand, and required surgery for facial nerve damage that was not able to be fully repaired.

While processing the Cypress Street crime scene, according to court documents, officers were called to the 700 block of Spruce Street for a report of a male with a knife who was covered in blood and seeking help after he claimed he had been “jumped.”

Responding officers made contact with Newman, who said he had been at the Cypress Street location but claimed he left to seek help after he had been punched, according to an affidavit of probable cause.

Police recovered what they described as a “large, halfmoon-shaped fixed-blade knife with a wooden handle” covered in blood at Newman’s location, according to the criminal complaint. Newman was transported to an area hospital for treatment of bruises and small cuts to his face, according to police.

Police did not provide a motive for the attack nor indicate in court papers what prompted the altercation. Prosecutors contended the attack was unprovoked.

During a subsequent interview by detectives, Newman admitted he struck the man in the face while holding the knife.