Who is Collin Potter? Former Navy sailor sentenced to 16 years in prison after fatally stabbing man 42 times
WASHINGTON, DC: Collin Potter, a former Navy sailor, was sentenced to 16 years in prison on Friday, September 15 after pleading guilty to a second-degree murder charge for stabbing a man 42 times.
The 30-year-old, from Virginia, stabbed Vongell Lugo to death on January 6, 2019, in his apartment in the Upper Northwest neighborhood of Washington, DC, prosecutors said.
Officials noted that Potter met 36-year-old Lugo earlier in the night at a bar and went back to his apartment for a "romantic hookup."
Why did Collin Potter kill Vongell Lugo?
At Lugo’s apartment, the pair were alone when Potter, unprovoked, grabbed a kitchen knife and stabbed and cut Lugo 42 times in the head, neck, and torso, according to Law&Crime.
Prosecutors said Lugo’s cries for help apparently awoke neighbors who called 911 around 4.14 am. About six minutes later, police arrived at the scene and found Potter pulling Lugo’s naked body out of the apartment.
“[Metropolitan Police Department] officers discovered Lugo’s body and the defendant, who was standing naked, uninjured, and covered in Lugo’s blood,” a press release said.
Police arrested Potter at the scene and he has been in custody ever since. In February this year, he pleaded guilty to second-degree murder while armed.
At the sentencing hearing, Potter apologized for his crime but admitted that it wouldn't be enough and that he deserved to go to jail.
Potter’s attorney also stated that the attack was a result of his client’s history of childhood trauma, mental illness, and alcohol abuse.
Who was Vongell Lugo?
Several of Lugo’s family and friends also testified on his behalf at the sentencing hearing. “There are no words to describe my feeling today,” Lugo’s mother Victoria Lugo told the judge.
“Neither the dictionary nor Google have any words. My heart hurts. My son’s life was taken for a selfish reason. No mother should have to go through this,” she continued.
According to his obituary, Lugo was born in Trinidad and Tobago and emigrated to the United States in 1994.
He graduated from high school in 2009 and then went on to attend the University of Maryland where he earned a bachelor’s degree in sociology.
Before his death, Lugo reportedly worked in retail management and as an executive recruiter. “He was a devoted fan of the Redskins with a sophisticated sense of style in both fashion and food – his curry was described with reverence,” the obit said.