Uniontown man gets 8 to 16 years for fatal stabbing
A Uniontown man will spend up to 16 years in jail for the fatal stabbing of a 21-year-old woman outside a bar in Fairchance in 2014.
Darius Samuel, 24, was convicted last month of third-degree murder in Fayette County Court in the death of Rashaunda Fitzgerald, after jurors heard testimony about and saw video surveillance of what prosecutors called a melee inside and outside the Goalpost Lounge on the night of Feb. 22,2014.
Samuel, Fitzgerald and dozens of family and friends were attending a private birthday party that turned chaotic close to closing time, according to testimony.
Prior to Judge Linda Cordaro handing down the eight-to-16-year sentence, several people addressed the court, including Samuel.
“I want to say I’m sorry,” he said. “I never meant for this to happen. That night was chaotic, I sit every night and suffer about it.”
“It’s not me,” said Samuel. “I didn’t mean to. It was an accident.”
“If she was alive, she would say I wouldn’t do nothing like that to her,” Samuel told the court.
Assistant Public Defender Shane Gannon called Antonio Samuel to the stand to speak on behalf of his son.
Antonio Samuel struggled for words for a few moments, and removed his glasses to wipe tears from his eyes before saying, “My son — I believe him when he said this was an accident.”
Darius Samuel lowered his head, nearly resting it on counsel table as his father wept on the stand.
“This has been like a nightmare for me,” Antonio Samuel said, adding that he loves his son.
Juanita Thomas, Darius Samuel’s grandmother, also addressed the court.
“He’s never been a bad kid. Never,” Thomas said. She described Samuel as a quiet young man who never bothered anyone.
Thomas said she believed the stabbing had to have been an accident, and told the court that what happened was something her grandson will have to live with for the rest of his life.
“I’m asking the court to be lenient,” said Thomas.
Darrell Samuel, the defendant’s uncle, also asked for the court’s mercy, saying he understood what it means to fall into trouble and look for an opportunity to make a change for the better.
“He deserves a chance, just like I did,” Darrell Samuel told the court.
“I’m very good friends with the victim’s family. Whatever happened was not on purpose, because he doesn’t have it in his heart to do anything like this on purpose,” he said. “He’s a smart kid, making bad decisions.”
Assistant District Attorney Mark Mehalov told Cordaro that initially he didn’t think there would be any victim impact statements, but as Samuel’s family spoke, there had been a change of plans.
He called Melvin Fitzgerald, the victim’s uncle, to the stand.
Melvin Fitzgerald said the loss of his niece was just one of several tragic deaths the family had suffered recently. “Our family’s been through so much,” he said.
He said he has known Darius Samuel all his life, as he knew Rashaunda all of her life. “This man has a chance to reform himself. We have nothing. She don’t have a life.”
“I love him and his family,” said Melvin Fitzgerald said tearfully. “I love my family more.”
“If he has to do his time, he has to do his time.”
Mehalov argued for a 20- to 40-year sentence, the maximum penalty under law, saying the prosecution initially sought a first-degree murder conviction, meaning they intended to see Darius Samuel put behind bars for life.
“You watched the videos. It’s chilling to watch what’s going on,” said Mehalov. “It’s supposed to be a celebration and this melee breaks out.”
He said it was apparent that there was some problem between Darius Samuel and the victim’s brother, Devon Fitzgerald, and that Rashaunda was trying to protect her brother.
“Whatever beef was between Mr. Samuel and her brother, I don’t know and I don’t care,” Mehalov said. “Accident or no accident, the jury did not find it that way.”
Cordaro said she took into consideration past criminal acts, including two arrests for carrying firearms without a license, the fact that Darius Samuel quit school after ninth grade and an unspecified mental health diagnosis when determining the sentence.
“I don’t doubt, Mr. Samuel, that you will be haunted by this for the rest of your life,” said Cordaro. “That is quite a sentence in and of itself.”