Trial Begins Monday For Teen In Fatal Stabbing
PONTIAC (WWJ/AP) - A teen accused of fatally stabbing an older boy outside a home during a party in an affluent Detroit suburb is scheduled to go on trial Monday in Oakland County Circuit Court.
West Bloomfield Township police say then-15-year-old Leonard White stabbed 17-year-old Johnathan Rickman in the stomach with a knife on June 4 at a house party in the 7300 block of Rafford Lane.
The boys were acquaintances, said police Lt. Tim Diamond.
"There was a disagreement between the two, and the suspect grabbed a knife from the kitchen and pursued (Rickman) outside," Diamond told The Oakland Press. Police did not disclose the reason for the dispute.
Rickman attended Walled Lake Western High School, while White attended Walled Lake Central.
White is now 16 and is charged with an open count of murder, as well as assault with dangerous weapon.
Defense lawyer Rowland Short tells The Oakland Press that White was defending himself from the 330-pound Rickman, who was about three times his size.
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