Assailant in 2016 East Providence stabbing is sentenced to 30 years

James Stevens to serve at least 20 years after being found guilty of killing Jasper Williams

Posted 6/10/19

PROVIDENCE — James Stevens was sentenced to 30 years in the Adult Correction Institution after a superior court jury found him guilty of manslaughter in the 2016 killing of Jasper Williams in East …

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Assailant in 2016 East Providence stabbing is sentenced to 30 years

James Stevens to serve at least 20 years after being found guilty of killing Jasper Williams

Posted

PROVIDENCE — James Stevens was sentenced to 30 years in the Adult Correction Institution after a superior court jury found him guilty of manslaughter in the 2016 killing of Jasper Williams in East Providence.

The office of Attorney General Peter F. Neronha announced the verdict earlier this week. Mr. Stevens, 31 and of Providence, was sentenced before Superior Court Justice Luis M. Matos. He was found guilty by a Providence County Superior Court jury on April 9 after a six-day trial. Mr. Stevens received a full sentence of 30 years, with 20 to serve at the ACI, and the balance suspended with probation.

According to statement from the AG’s office, at trial the state proved beyond a reasonable doubt that on the evening of December 10, 2016, Mr. Stevens became involved in an argument with his ex-girlfriend and the victim, Jasper Williams, that led to a violent confrontation outside of the ex-girlfriend’s home on Warren Avenue in East Providence.

During the confrontation, Mr. Stevens, armed with a knife, stabbed the victim 18 times. Mr. Williams later succumbed to his wounds at the hospital. Mr. Stevens, meanwhile, fled Rhode Island and was later arrested in El Paso, Texas.

The East Providence Police Department led the investigation and Assistant Attorney General Daniel Carr Guglielmo and Special Assistant Attorney General Robert Johnson prosecuted the case on behalf of the Office of the Attorney General.

Detective Corporal Matthew McNulty was the point of the EPPD inquiry along with fellow Detective Corporals Mark Bourget and Michael Spremulli as well as Detective Lieutenant Ray Blinn. Captain Bruce Kidman commands the unit.

Lt. Blinn credited the “hard work” of the detectives, adding, “It was a great team effort to track (Stevens) down.”

The incident unfolded late in the evening of December 10 when police responded to a call in the vicinity of Warren and Lyon Avenues around 11:45 p.m.

Mr. Williams, 24, of 64 Lyon Avenue, was taken to Rhode Island Hospital with severe wounds suffered when he was stabbed near his home at the intersection of Warren Avenue. A search for the suspect, already considered Mr. Stevens, began immediately. At the time, police said he was believed to be driving a white, Jeep Grand Cherokee SUV with the Rhode Island license plate number JH-259.

Mr. Williams remained on life-support before succumbing to his wounds Thursday evening, Dec. 15. Mr. Stevens was known to local law enforcement. He has once previously been arrested and charged with felony assault, but has no other record of violent crimes.

Following a lengthy search, on Wednesday afternoon, Dec. 28, it was announced Mr. Stevens was finally apprehended by the United States Marshals Task Force in El Paso, the far-flung Texas city that borders Mexico. EPPD detectives in cooperation with the state division of the US Marshals, the R.I. Violent Fugitive Task Force, the R.I. Attorney General’s Office and the Federal Bureau of Investigation worked collaboratively to locate the suspect.

Mr. Stevens was arraigned upon his return to Rhode Island on Friday afternoon, Jan. 13, 2017 in District Court. EPPD detectives traveled to El Paso to continue the investigation with their Texas counterparts before bringing him back to Rhode Island to face charges.

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Jim McGaw

A lifelong Portsmouth resident, Jim graduated from Portsmouth High School in 1982 and earned a journalism degree from the University of Rhode Island in 1986. He's worked two different stints at East Bay Newspapers, for a total of 18 years with the company so far. When not running all over town bringing you the news from Portsmouth, Jim listens to lots and lots and lots of music, watches obscure silent films from the '20s and usually has three books going at once. He also loves to cook crazy New Orleans dishes for his wife of 25 years, Michelle, and their two sons, Jake and Max.