Three Teens Sentenced in Stabbing Death

Two teens and a young man were sentenced today to four years in a juvenile facility in connection with the death of a 17-year-old accomplice who was stabbed by a man during a drug deal gone bad in Sherman Oaks.

Dejae Middleton and Dandre Charles, both 17, and PJ Spencer Wartak, 18, pleaded no contest Aug. 14 to involuntary manslaughter and robbery.

The three were initially charged with murder in the Feb. 6 stabbing death of Jacob Koffman, but the murder charge was dismissed as a result of their pleas.

Koffman was with the defendants when the man involved in the drug deal was lured from a sidewalk to an alley, and an altercation ensued when he tried to flee, according to Deputy District Attorney Brad Harmon.

The man -- who was not charged with Koffman’s killing -- used the knife in self-defense after seeing what he believed was a handgun, which turned out to be a replica weapon, the prosecutor said.

All three were prosecuted as adults. Wartak turned 18 while in custody.

City News Service