Arkansas man gets 5 years for house party stabbing

Going to the wrong fraternity party and stabbing two people there while trying to leave has landed an Arkansas man in prison for five years.

Brandin Rowe, 21, of Jonesboro, Ark., was slated to stand trial Jan. 17 for four counts of first-degree assault stemming from an altercation at a May 7 house party that left four men wounded. Rowe originally pleaded guilty Sept. 19 with two amended second-degree assault charges as part of a plea deal, but he changed his plea on the amended charges Oct. 31.

On Monday, Rowe again pleaded guilty to the same two amended assault charges, saying he responded poorly to what started as a misunderstanding.

"We went to a frat party, but the party we went to was the wrong one," Rowe told Cape Girardeau Circuit Court Judge William Syler.

Despite being at the wrong party, Rowe, Kollin Payne and Kemond Hollis were invited into the North Pacific Street house and headed to the basement where a fraternity party was, Rowe said. Once there, one of the fraternity members told one of Rowe's friends, who Rowe did not identify in court, that the men had to leave.

That's when things turned violent.

"Guys started getting into it, and we tried to fight our way out," Rowe said.

That's when Rowe used a knife to stab two partygoers. In retrospect, Rowe said he finds his actions regrettable.

"I knew using a knife was going to end me up in trouble," he said.

Rowe's knife use did more than get him in trouble. The two men he stabbed were sent to the emergency room with lacerations on their shoulders, backs and chests, Cape Girardeau County assistant prosecuting attorney John Koester said.

"The injuries were not life-threatening but nonetheless serious," Koester said.

Rowe's attorney, Mary Tucka, told Syler that almost everyone at the party was intoxicated. Tucka declined to comment after the hearing.

No one's testimony changed Syler's thoughts on the matter, and he gave Rowe two concurrent five-year sentences, something Syler had planned to do when Rowe pleaded guilty in September. Syler said he used the same sentencing assessment report.

Payne pleaded guilty to a third-degree assault, a misdemeanor, in Cape Girardeau Circuit Court last month and was given a one-year suspended prison sentence and two years' probation. Hollis pleaded not guilty to hindering prosecution and is set to stand trial next month.

psullivan@semissourian.com

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Pertinent address:

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300 N. Pacific St., Cape Girardeau, MO