EVERETT — An Everett man is facing up to 15 years in prison after pleading guilty to stabbing his friend to death last year.
George Bell’s murder trial was scheduled to begin earlier this week. Just before jury selection began Bell pleaded guilty to second-degree manslaughter and witness tampering. He is scheduled to be sentenced next week.
Public defender Jason Schwarz had been prepared to argue that his client was defending himself when he stabbed Jamal Abdul-Malik on April 21, 2014.
Witnesses reported that the men were arguing over a woman when they started throwing punches inside a south Everett apartment. Bell grabbed a kitchen knife and swung at Abdul-Malik, 22. The blade sliced through the victim’s throat and severed an artery. He died on a couch before paramedics even reached him.
Prosecutors charged Bell with second-degree murder. They offered to allow him to plead guilty to manslaughter.
“There was sufficient evidence for a jury to consider a self-defense claim,” chief criminal deputy prosecutor Joan Cavagnaro said. “It was obviously a high-stakes proposition for both sides to go to trial.”
Bell had declined the offer for months. The defense expected to present evidence that Abdul-Malik was prone to violence and had assaulted Bell and others in the past, according to court papers.
Snohomish County deputy prosecutor Robert Grant had planned to introduce evidence that Bell had used methamphetamine before the homicide and became paranoid when he was high.
Witnesses told investigators that the Abdul-Malik confronted the defendant about allegations that he was unfaithful to his girlfriend. The men came to blows.
After the stabbing Bell fled the apartment. He was found about an hour later, lying on a couch on a patio behind an apartment on W. Casino Road. He told officers he’d been beaten and asked about self-defense laws, according to court papers.
Bell has multiple felony convictions. If he had been convicted of second-degree murder, he faced up to 33 years in prison.
Diana Hefley: 425-339-3463; hefley@heraldnet.com. Twitter: @dianahefley.
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