District Man Sentenced to 12 1/2 Years in Prison For Stabbing Woman at Post-Holiday Get-Together

            WASHINGTON – Hasan Givens, 37, of Washington, D.C., was sentenced today to 12 ½ years in prison for stabbing a woman who asked him to leave a get-together she was hosting during a holiday weekend last year, announced Acting U.S. Attorney Vincent H. Cohen, Jr.

            Givens was found guilty by a jury in August 2015 of charges of aggravated assault while armed, assault with a dangerous weapon, and assault with significant bodily injury. The verdict followed a trial in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia. He was sentenced by the Honorable Senior Judge Robert I. Richter. Upon completion of his prison term, Givens will be placed on five years of supervised release.

            According to the government’s evidence, the victim had invited Givens, who was an on-again, off-again boyfriend, and two of his close friends to her apartment in Northeast Washington. The group gathered for a casual get-together on Nov. 29, 2014, during Thanksgiving weekend. In the early morning hours of Nov. 30, 2014, the victim asked the guests to leave. Givens became enraged.  He threw over the television, charged at her, and stabbed her in the abdomen with a kitchen knife. One of Givens’s friends summoned an ambulance. Givens’s friends worked to save the victim’s life while Givens sat idly on a couch. The knife lacerated the victim’s liver and she was taken to a hospital for emergency surgery.

            The victim remained hospitalized for seven days, during which time she received blood transfusions and constant pain medications.

            In announcing the sentence, Acting U.S. Attorney Cohen commended the work of those who investigated the case from the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD). He also acknowledged the work of the U.S. Marshals Service, which provided assistance. He expressed appreciation for the efforts of those who worked on the case from the U.S. Attorney’s Office, including Criminal Investigator Mark Crawford; Victim/Witness Advocate Shawn Slade; former Victim/Witness Advocate Maria Shumar; Paralegal Specialist Mark Morse, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Jason Park. Finally, he praised the work of Assistant U.S. Attorney Kara Traster and former Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Courtney Schaefer, who investigated and prosecuted the case.