Michigan man found not guilty in Bedford Township stabbing death

7/25/2013
BLADE STAFF

MONROE -- A Monroe County jury took less than an hour to find a man innocent in the fatal stabbing of his mother's boyfriend last year in Bedford Township.

Alexander Robert Tucker, 25, of Erie, Mich., was found not guilty today of manslaughter. If convicted, he could have been sentenced to 15 years in prison.

He was accused of stabbing Darrin Flynn, 43, during an altercation on June 30, 2012 in the North Town Meadows Manufactured Home Community on South Telegraph Road.

The stabbing was witnessed by Mr. Tucker's mother and two other people who were in the trailer for a small party.

Mr. Flynn was found on the porch of the home and taken to Mercy St. Vincent Medical Center in Toledo, where he was pronounced dead.

Authorities said Mr. Flynn, who lived on Bradmore Drive in Toledo, was stabbed in the upper back and in the neck, a wound that penetrated into his spinal cord and a jugular vein.

Mr. Tucker took the witness stand in his own defense, testifying that he grabbed a steak knife and confronted Mr. Flynn in a bedroom after he became abusive with Mr. Tucker's mother.

The 12-person jury heard evidence over three days and listened to closing arguments on Wednesday. The jurors returned to the courtroom of 38th Circuit Judge Michael Weipert today and issued their verdict about an hour later.