Man sentenced to 10 years for Cape stabbing

A man involved in a 2014 stabbing has been sentenced to 10 years in the Missouri Department of Corrections.

Billy Joe McGee, 43, of Cape Girardeau was sentenced by Judge Michael Gardner in July.

McGee had been charged with first-degree assault and armed criminal action after stabbing a man with a steak knife in February 2014.

Police responded to a house at 1430 N. Spanish St. the night of Feb. 13, 2014, to find a man sitting on the front porch, holding a piece of cloth to his abdomen. The victim, who was taken to a hospital for treatment, described a confrontation between him and McGee in an alley, according to a probable-case statement filed in the case.

He said McGee threatened to kill him, started to walk away, then turned back and stabbed him with a wooden-handled steak knife, the affidavit said. The victim gave conflicting answers when asked whether he knew McGee.

Witnesses told police McGee fled to his mother's home nearby, then jumped a fence and escaped, the statement said.

A jury trial had been scheduled, but was canceled in mid-May when McGee entered a guilty plea on the assault charge. McGee pleaded guilty to that count in exchange for the charge of armed criminal action being dismissed.

Pertinent address:

1430 N. Spanish St., Cape Girardeau, MO