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A 37-year-old New Bedford man who violently attacked his live-in girlfriend with a knife, causing near-fatal injuries, was sentence to serve nine to 12 years in prison last week in Fall River Superior Court, Bristol County District Attorney Thomas M. Quinn III announced.
Auguste Louis was convicted of Armed Assault with Intent to Murder, Aggravated Assault and Battery with a dangerous weapon and Assault and Battery on a Family or Household Member on March 3 by Judge Gregg Pasquale after an 8-day Bench Trial.
On November 13, 2016 the defendant and victim were living together in New Bedford. They shared one child in common, but both had other children from other prior relationships. The defendant started an argument with the victim regarding her child stepping on his child’s toy. The argument turned violent when he stabbed her seven times. He carved her face with a knife several times, stating, “sorry I am going to jail” and “I love you.” After slicing her face several times, the defendant then stabbed her multiple times in the body area. A neighbor who heard the commotion helped to stop the bleeding and called 911. An ambulance arrived and attempted to transport her directly to RI Hospital, but had to re-route to St. Luke’s due to the amount of blood that she was losing. After initial treatment to stabilize the victim, she was then transported by med-flight to RI Hospital. She suffered serious injuries from the stab wounds including a collapsed lung that left her on a ventilator for several days and has multiple scars on her face, neck and torso.
After the conviction, Assistant District Attorney Courtney Cahill argued for an 18 to 20 year state prison term due to the depravity of the attack and the seriousness of the victim’s injuries. The defense, however, requested a lenient sentence of five to seven years in state prison.
Judge Pasquale eventually sentenced the defendant to nine to 12 years in prison, to be followed by four years of supervised probation. The probationary term includes the use of a GPS monitoring device for the first year.
“This was a vicious assault that very easily could have killed the victim. I commend the victim for having the courage to testify against the defendant. He clearly is a danger to her and should be off the street for as long as possible,” District Attorney Quinn said.
