WASHINGTON - A 41-year-old District man, J.P. Battle, has been sentenced to 168 months (14 years) in prison for the December 4, 2007 stabbing death of Vincent Simpson, U.S. Attorney Jeffrey A. Taylor announced today.

Battle received his sentence earlier today before the Honorable Frederick H. Weisberg of the Superior Court of the District of Columbia after pleading guilty in September 2008 to the charge of Voluntary Manslaughter while Armed.

During the prior plea hearing, Battle admitted that during the evening of December 4, 2007, he went to visit his young daughter in an apartment in the 4900 block of Quarles Street, SE. Present at the time of this visit, were his daughter's mother, her brother, a friend, and the decedent, 27-year-old Vincent Simpson. During the course of the evening, Battle asked his daughter's mother, why she let Simpson get a plate of food. Simpson responded that the defendant no longer lived in the apartment. Moreover, Simpson said that the defendant was not financially responsible for his daughter. They got into a verbal altercation, during which, Battle pulled out a knife and stabbed Simpson in the chest. Simpson died as a result of the stab wound to his chest.

In announcing the sentence, U.S. Attorney Taylor commended the work of Metropolitan Police Department Detectives Brian Kasul, Dan Lewis, William Xanten, Milton Norris of the Violent Crime Branch, Detective Ucrania Morales and Officers Hung Le, Lashay Makal, David Randolph, and Anita Maulfair of the Sixth District, and Dwayne Mitchell, Natasha Pettus, and Keith Slaughter of the Mobile Crime Unit. He also commended Paralegal Specialist Marian Russell, Legal Assistant Doloris Young, and Victim Witness Advocate Marcey Rinker. Finally, he commended Assistant U.S. Attorney Charles W. Cobb, who investigated and prosecuted the case.