11-year sentence in Elgin butcher knife attack over cocaine
An Elgin man has been sentenced to 11 years in prison for stabbing another man with a butcher knife in a dispute over cocaine last November.
Marcellus D. Thomas, of the 100 block of South State Street, was sentenced by Kane County Judge David Akemann after a March conviction on charges of armed violence, aggravated battery with great bodily harm and aggravated battery with a deadly weapon. A jury acquitted Thomas of attempted murder.
Authorities said Thomas, the victim and others had been drinking and doing drugs Nov. 5, 2011, at Thomas’ apartment and the victim tried to leave at about 7 a.m. Nov. 6.
The two argued over whether the victim had paid for some cocaine and Thomas tried to steal the 37-year-old man’s cellphone and cut him in the left shoulder, puncturing his subclavian artery.
Thomas left the apartment with a friend and threw the knife into an open area near the Fox River, authorities said.
Paramedics who responded described the crime scene as one of the bloodiest they had seen, prosecutors said.
Thomas must serve 85 percent of the sentence, which is about nine years and four months.
He also was given credit for nearly seven months spent in jail since his arrest.