Deep Creek man gets 10 years in fatal stabbing

CHESAPEAKE

A Deep Creek man was sentenced to 10 years in prison Thursday for last year’s fatal stabbing of Marvin Teller, 47, at a lounge on South Military Highway.

Circuit Judge Bruce Kushner sentenced Matthew Merritt Showalter for the Feb. 2 stabbing. Teller, of the 2900 block of S. Military Hwy., died Feb. 6 at Sentara Norfolk General Hospital.

In a plea agreement, Sho­walter entered an Alford plea to voluntary manslaughter and use of a knife in the commission of the crime. His Alford plea means he does not admit guilt but believes prosecutors had enough evidence to convict.

P rosecutors Amy James and Amar Meda agreed to recommend the maximum 10-year term for voluntary manslaughter to run consecutively with any other prison time and a suspended five-year sentence for use of the knife.

Police were called that Saturday night to a fight at Milly’s Cue and Chew Lounge in the 2900 block of S. Military Hwy . Two of the men involved in an altercation were taken to the hospital with stab wounds, police said.

One victim suffered a non-life-threatening cut. Teller was stabbed in the chest.

Showalter, a former resident of the 500 block of Lynnfield Road, was originally charged with malicious wounding . The charge was upgraded to second-degree murder after Teller died.

Showalter’s sentence includes a ban from the lounge, a period of supervised probation, and an agreement to have no contact with the victim’s family and to make restitution of $5,000 to the state’s Criminal Injuries Compensation Fund.

John Hopkins, (757) 222-5221, john.hopkins@pilotonline.com