Crime & Safety

Salem Man Gets Life For Peabody P.F. Chang's Killing

The 25-year-old pleaded guilty to stabbing his co-worker with a sushi knife in 2015.

SALEM, MA — A man accused of stabbing his co-worker with a sushi knife at a Peabody restaurant in an unprovoked attack has pleaded guilty to second-degree murder.

The Essex County DA's Office says 25-year-old Jaquan Huston was sentenced Wednesday in Salem to life with the possibility of parole after 20 years in the 2015 death of 38-year-old Elivelton Dias.

Authorities say Huston and Dias worked in the kitchen at a now-closed P.F. Chang's restaurant at a Peabody mall. Dias had just returned to work after taking time off for the birth of his child.

Find out what's happening in Salemfor free with the latest updates from Patch.

They say Huston plunged a knife into Dias' back the evening of Aug. 29, 2015. Huston had claimed he overhead Dias talking about him in Spanish. But prosecutors say Dias was a Brazilian immigrant who spoke Portuguese.

Image via shutterstock

Find out what's happening in Salemfor free with the latest updates from Patch.