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A 20-year-old man was sentenced to prison Tuesday for fatally stabbing a teen outside a Stansbury Park elementary school last year.
Larry Beach was charged in 3rd District Court with first-degree felony murder and second-degree felony obstruction of justice in the slaying of 17-year-old Jesse Horowitz the night of April 25.
In January, Beach pleaded guilty to the murder charge, but prosecutors reduced it to second-degree felony manslaughter for purposes of sentencing, while adding a dangerous weapon enhancement. Beach also pleaded guilty as charged to the obstruction of justice charge.
Judge Robert Adkins on Tuesday ordered Beach to serve two to 20 years on the enhanced manslaughter count, to run consecutively to a one-to-15-year term for obstruction of justice — for a total sentence of three to 35 years behind bars.
Beach's cousin, 19-year-old Roy Coffey, has been charged with second-degree felony obstructing justice. A scheduling hearing for Coffey is set for April 14.
According to charging documents, Coffey and Beach went to the school along with a dozen or so other young men to settle a dispute over a girl the night of April 25.
Earlier, Coffey and a former classmate had exchanged messages on Twitter that escalated to a challenge.
The fight at the school was over quickly. Coffey won.
But as the crowd began to dissipate and most present turned to head back to their cars, Beach began yelling at Horowitz.
Horowitz, a high school senior and football player on the Stansbury Stallions, yelled back.
The two men were throwing punches and wrestling each other to the ground, according to court documents.
Witnesses told police that Horowitz was "getting the better" of Beach when Coffey attempted to break the two apart.
Once Beach was back on his feet, documents allege, he ran at Horowitz, tackled him and grabbed him in a choke hold. Witnesses told officers that's when they saw Beach make stabbing motions as Horowitz went limp.
Beach, originally from San Antonio, Texas, had been staying with Coffey for about a week before the incident, police said. None of the boys at the fight knew him, although, they said, he had been bragging about being a member of the Bloods gang.
Both Beach and Coffey fled the scene of the fight after Horowitz collapsed. Horowitz died before emergency responders arrived at the scene.
Police believe the knife used in the fight was tossed into a body of water near the school.
The NAACP has alleged the attack may have been racially motivated.
Horowitz was black; the rest of the group was mostly, if not entirely, white, local NAACP chapter president Jeanetta Williams has said.