Providence Man Gets 32 Years In Prison For 2017 Murder Of His Mother Mother's Neighbor

PROVIDENCE, RI — A Providence man was sentenced to 32 years in state prison after pleading to fatally stabbing his mother's neighbor in 2017, Rhode Island Attorney General Peter Neronha said Wednesday.

On May 24, Richard Sostre, 36, pleaded nolo contendere to second-degree murder in connection to the death of William Rodriguez, 52.

Had the case proceeded to trial, state prosecutors said they were prepared to prove that on Nov. 14, 2017, Sostre stabbed and killed Rodriguez at a multi-family home on Chalkstone Avenue in Providence.

That morning, Providence police responded to a report of a victim suffering serious stab wounds. Emergency officials rushed Rodriguez to Rhode Island Hospital, where he later died.

During the investigation, Providence police learned Rodriguez lived in the basement of the multi-family home, directly below the Sostre's mother. Prosecutors said evidence brought police to Sostre, who admitted he stabbed Rodriguez, threw the knife in a trash can, and tossed his blood-stained clothes in a trash truck.

Prosecutors said investigators later recovered the knife Sostre used in the stabbing but not his discarded clothes.

Following Sostre's prison sentence, he must serve 50 years of probation.