By Max Bowen—max.bowen@northstarreporter.com
Justin Perez, 27, of North Attleborough, has been sentenced to three to five years in state prison for a 2023 stabbing at a sober home on North Washington Street, the Bristol County District Attorney’s Office stated.
Perez plead guilty and was sentenced on Sept. 25 in Fall River Superior Court on a charge of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon causing serious bodily injury. He will also serve two years of supervised probation for the charge of intimidation of a witness.
The case was prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney Catherine Sauter.
“This was a senseless act of violence committed by the defendant who was living in a sober house yet acting in an altered state of mind apparently fueled by drug use,” District Attorney Tom Quinn said in a statement.
According to the DA’s office, on Dec. 2, 2023, Perez and the 58-year-old male victim both resided in sober homes located at 174 and 180 North Washington St. in North Attleborough. Although the victim and Perez resided in adjacent properties, the two had not previously interacted.
Residents indicated that Perez appeared in the early evening hours of Dec. 2, 2023, in a common area with a knife, a cut on his arm and was observed by residents to be under the effects of some type of drug and was acting and speaking strangely. The victim, who did not interact with Perez, left his residence on foot towards North Washington Street intending to walk to a Cumberland Farms. Perez, as seen on video surveillance, pursued the victim on foot, the DA’s office stated.
The victim indicated to police that as he was on the sidewalk he could hear footsteps behind him and then felt a punch to his back. When the victim turned around, he observed an individual that matched the description of Perez. The victim collapsed inside of the Cumberland Farms.
According to the DA’s office, Perez fled back to the sober home and was seen on surveillance camera in a common area hiding the knife in a gas grill where it was later recovered by police. Perez stated to other residents not to call 911. The victim suffered serious injuries from the stab wound to his back.