1990-08-24

#event/death/homicide #event/plea/guilty #offense/manslaughter #street/Seminole/S/1700-block

Man pleads guilty in stabbing

A 32-year-old Amarillo man charged with murder in the stabbing death of another man last year pleaded guilty to the lesser offense of voluntary manslaughter Monday in 320th state District Court.

David Jack Oakes was sentenced to 17 years in prison. He will have to serve one-fourth of the term before he is eligible for parole; his attorney, Warren Clark, said.

The victim, Ronald Douglas Dendy Jr., was stabbed between 3 and 4 a.m. Aug. 24 in the front yard of Oakes' residence in the 1700 block of South Seminole Street, the Potter-Randall Special Crimes Unit reported. He died later that morning after being taken to Northwest Texas Hospital.

A Special Crimes Unit officer said the autopsy showed Dendy died of a single stab wound to the heart.

Voluntary manslaughter carries a punishment range of two to 20 years in prison. Murder carries from five to 99 years or life in prison.