WASHINGTON — A man has pleaded guilty to a voluntary manslaughter charge in connection to a fatal stabbing with a screwdriver in Northwest D.C.
Alton Rivers, 54, pleaded guilty Friday in the stabbing that took place in July 2018, when a fight turned deadly, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia said in a news release Monday.
Around 4:30 p.m. on July 27, prosecutors said an off-duty D.C. police officer saw two men fighting at the intersection of 14th Street and Perry Place in Northwest D.C. One of the men, who was later identified as Rivers, was reportedly holding a weapon, while the other man was swinging his fists.
The officer then approached the men, identified himself as a police officer and told the men to stop fighting. But, moments later, the other man, identified as 68-year-old Anthony Anderson, fell to the ground with blood coming out of his mouth.
A witness told police that before the stabbing, the men were seen throwing punches but, at one point, Rivers had fallen to the ground when Anderson had punched him. It was then that Rivers pulled out the screwdriver, according to the witness.
Prosecutors said Rivers was ordered to drop his weapon, a screwdriver now covered with blood. He did and was arrested; he has been in custody ever since.
Anderson died from stab wounds to his chest, prosecutors said.
Rivers is scheduled for sentencing on Dec. 14.
