Orangeburg man gets 30 years for fatal stabbing
Posted: 05.18.2012 at 8:31 AM

DeShawn Powell

 / Orangeburg County Sheriff's Department
Photo

ORANGEBURG, S.C. (AP) -- A 26-year-old Orangeburg man has been sentenced to 30 years in prison for stabbing a man to death during a fight.

The Times and Democrat of Orangeburg reports that a jury found DeShawn Powell guilty Thursday of voluntary manslaughter. He had been charged with murder.

Prosecutors say Powell beat 69-year-old Arthur Riley and stabbed him 42 times during a fight at Riley's home in November 2010.

A defense attorney says Powell got into a fight with Riley at the home where drug deals and prostitution often took place, but someone else struck the blows that killed the man after Powell left.

A 2005 murder charge against Powell in a different case is still pending.

(Copyright 2012 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)