Attempted matricide gets 14-year sentence

Devin Powell pleaded guilty to stabbing his mother in 2005.

By: Audrey Levine
   Devin Powell, 22, of Brookside Lane, was sentenced June 8 to 14 years in prison for severely beating and stabbing his mother in 2005, in addition to other charges from 2004, according to Somerset County Prosecutor Wayne Forrest.
   Mr. Powell pleaded guilty to all charges on April 13, 2007.
   Mr. Powell was charged on Dec. 15, 2005, with attempted murder and theft of a motor vehicle after he brutally beat and stabbed his mother, Dawn Powell-Reid, with a knife outside their Brookside Drive home. Although the victim survived, she suffered multiple stab wounds to her head, extensive eye damage and a lacerated liver from the attack, Mr. Forrest said in a news release.
   When neighbors interrupted the December attack, Mr. Powell fled in a witness’ pickup truck to Virginia, where he was arrested by authorities and extradited to New Jersey.
   Mr. Powell had been out on bail for other charges when he attacked his mother. After the attempted murder charge was filed, Mr. Powell was ordered held in Somerset County Jail on $1 million cash bail and remained incarcerated until his sentencing last week.
   Mr. Powell also pleaded guilty to disarming a law enforcement officer, aggravated assault on a law enforcement officer, resisting arrest and joyriding for taking a car from a customer without consent at an auto body shop in Hillsborough on June 16, 2004. Mr. Powell later returned the vehicle to its owner.
   According to Mr. Forrest, Mr. Powell later resisted arrest and grabbed the officer’s holstered handgun, but was unsuccessful in actually removing the weapon. He was arrested and later released from Somerset County Jail after posting $25,000 bail.
   Mr. Powell also pleaded guilty to eluding police for leading Bernards Township police on a high-speed chase down Route 78 on Aug. 2, 2004. While driving 95 mph, he struck the center median and drove over the double yellow line before he was pulled over on a side street and taken into custody. Mr. Powell was released from Somerset County Jail after posting $30,000 bail.
   Mr. Powell will be required to serve 85 percent of his 14-year sentence before he can be considered for parole.