In connection with a 2019 attack, a former college lacrosse team captain who knifed and almost disemboweled an ex-teammate might face 25 years in prison.
At the time of the assault, Matthew Stockfeder led the men’s lacrosse team at St. John’s University, reported New York Daily News. A jury convicted him of first-degree assault Thursday, and he faces sentencing in April.
The knife attack happened in an off-campus apartment on 172nd Street in Fresh Meadows, New York in October 2019. The Queens District Attorney’s office said that at the time of the assault, Justin Corpolongo was trying to sleep in the apartment that he shared with Stockfeder and other members of the university’s lacrosse team.
Back then a party raged outside his bedroom door. In a group message to friends, Corpolongo complained of the noise and explained that he had an early start at work the following morning. According to trial testimony, friends agreed to move the party elsewhere, but Stockfeder got enraged by the request.
Corpolongo and Stockfeder argued via text messages, and at one point, Stockfeder called Corpolongo a “loser.” That was when the victim made his way to the party’s new location to confront the team captain. Things quickly heated up and then Corpolongo threw a punch at Stockfeder. The captain fell to the ground, but when he stood up, he stabbed the victim twice in the stomach.
The attack left a five-inch hole and sliced through the victim's small intestine. Cops said at the time that Corpolongo was taken to New York-Presbyterian Queens by his friends. There he underwent surgery.
Corpolongo’s father, Dominick, said at the time that one of his son's "abs was cut in half — and that ab probably saved his life." He added that his son's small intestines "were sticking out at the time of the incident, and one section of the small intestine was pierced through.” The knife “missed his descending aorta by millimetres," according to Corpolongo’s mother.
The Queens DA’s office said that the jury returned its verdict after a three-week trial, and the conviction could bring a 25-year prison term for Stockfeder. Stockfeder’s bail was revoked and he was sent to Rikers Island after the conviction.
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz said in a statement that the victim was nearly "eviscerated by the defendant after an argument escalated to a physical altercation,” reported New York Post. Stockfeder’s sentencing is scheduled for April 7.
