Bucks County, PA.
Jail For Stabbing: An Ottsville man who stabbed his girlfriend’s ex-paramour during a fight at her house, then threatened him in a phone call from prison, was sentenced Monday to serve three to six years in state prison. Jeremie Hammerstone, 30, pleaded guilty to aggravated assault, retaliation against a witness, terroristic threats and possession of an instrument of crime. The sentence imposed by the judge was the result of a plea agreement. In addition to the prison time, the judge sentenced Hammerstone to a consecutive two years of probation. On June 23, 2017, Hammerstone was at the home of his girlfriend, Heather Radcliff, when her former partner, Karl Kennedy, showed up uninvited. Despite being warned by Radcliff not to enter the home, Kennedy walked in and got into a fight with Hammerstone. After the fight progressed into the first-floor bathroom, Hammerstone stabbed Kennedy in the left side with a knife. Kennedy later drove himself to a Hospital, where state police were notified of the assault. Months later, while awaiting trial, Hammerstone placed a threatening phone call to Kennedy from the Bucks County Correctional Facility by convincing a female friend to set up a three-way call. After the two exchanged insults, Hammerstone told Kennedy, “You’re (expletive) dead, (expletive).” Kennedy contacted police, saying he feared for his safety and that of his children. Investigators retrieved recordings of Hammerstone’s prison calls and confirmed Kennedy’s account. Hammerstone told the judge that he is on medication for depression and anxiety, and that he has a history of methamphetamine use. He said he hoped to serve his time in a boot-camp environment, and pledged to straighten out his life. “I’m sorry, sincerely sorry to the court and to my victims,” Hammerstone said. “I want today to be remembered not as a waste of time, but as a turning [point] in my life.”