On Friday, Kenneth Rice was sentenced to 9 years for the fatal stabbing of 51-year-old Dennis Wise in March.
At around 2 a.m. on March 11, police found Dennis Wise face down on a bed in a house in the 1800 block of Bruce Pl., SE. A few hours earlier police had arrived at the house to investigate an assault that was called in by Wise. Wise reported that he was assaulted by a man named “Kenneth.” When police arrived at the scene, the homeowner told officers that Kenneth Rice and Wise had gotten into a short fight over food and that it was over. When officers returned a short time later, Wise had stab wounds and was pronounced dead at the scene.
Rice, 31, had been arrested for a burglary on V Street at the same time as the crime scene investigation for Wise’s murder. Once at the police department, Rice immediately asked for a lawyer before responding to any questions. He was arrested three weeks after the murder and charged with second-degree murder while armed.
In September he pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter while armed. After his sentence is fulfilled, he will undergo three years of supervised release.
