Crime & Safety
Cedar Grove Teen’s Killer Gets 18 Years In Jail: Fatal Little Falls Stabbing
A Totowa man was sentenced to 18 years in prison for his role in the 2013 fatal stabbing of a Cedar Grove High School graduate.
A Totowa man was sentenced to 18 years in prison on Friday for his role in the 2013 killing of a Cedar Grove High School graduate.
After pleading guilty in April to the aggravated manslaughter of 18-year-old Brian Topoleski, Jonathan Lafontaine, 23, will serve 18 years in state prison, with 85 percent of his sentence to be served before parole eligibility, NorthJersey.com reported.
Lafontaine will have five years of parole supervision upon his release, NorthJersey.com stated.
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- See related article: PHOTOS: Family, Friends Remember Cedar Grove High Grad
Lafontaine was accused of fatally stabbing Topoleski with a steak knife after they and their friends engaged in a confrontation outside a house in Little Falls.
According to prosecutors, Topoleski and Lafontaine did not know each other prior to encountering one another as passengers in cars traveling through Little Falls. Lafontaine and his friends mistakenly thought they recognized the people in the car Topoleski was riding in, and the groups of young people exchanged words.
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Prosecutors said that Topoleski and his friends then followed the other car a mile-and-a-half to a house on Jacobus Avenue. The groups resumed their confrontation outside the house when prosecutors said Lafontaine went inside to the kitchen and grabbed two steak knives from the kitchen.
Prosecutors said Lafontaine punched and stabbed Topoleski and then hid behind the house when police arrived.
He was found hiding behind the home around 3 a.m. after a two-hour long standoff with a SWAT team, authorities said.
Lafontaine initially pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder in 2013. His attorney stated his client feared for his life and acted in self-defense.
- See related article: Fatal Stabbing of Cedar Grove Teen Was Self-Defense, Attorney Says
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Photo: Family, friends and members of the community remember the life of Brian Topoleski at a 2013 vigil at Cedar Grove High School.
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