LOCKPORT – David L. Alfonso accepted a plea offer today in connection with a Dec. 31 attack on his girlfriend’s 7-year-old daughter, rather than go to trial in two weeks on an attempted murder charge.
Alfonso, 29, of Lockport, pleaded guilty to a reduced charge of attempted first-degree assault, and did so without insisting on a sentencing commitment from Niagara County Judge Sara Sheldon Farkas.
Farkas could give Alfonso anything between five and 15 years in prison when he returns to court Sept. 30.
If he had been convicted of attempted murder, Alfonso could have been sentenced to as long as 25 years behind bars.
He admitted that he tried to strangle the girl in a house on Monroe Street in Lockport, showing “a depraved indifference to human life” and creating “a grave risk of death,” as Farkas said when she read the charge aloud.
Police said the girl’s mother stopped the attack by stabbing Alfonso in the back with a knife. She was not charged.
The mother was in court but left without comment. Defense attorney David C. Douglas, who said after a court appearance Thursday that Alfonso wanted a 10-year sentencing cap, also declined to be interviewed. He had said he didn’t know whether Alfonso would plead guilty without a sentencing promise from Farkas.
“The court has discussed sentencing parameters and still has not given him any commitment as to what the sentence will be,” Deputy District Attorney Holly E. Sloma said.
email: tprohaska@buffnews.com
Alfonso, 29, of Lockport, pleaded guilty to a reduced charge of attempted first-degree assault, and did so without insisting on a sentencing commitment from Niagara County Judge Sara Sheldon Farkas.
Farkas could give Alfonso anything between five and 15 years in prison when he returns to court Sept. 30.
If he had been convicted of attempted murder, Alfonso could have been sentenced to as long as 25 years behind bars.
He admitted that he tried to strangle the girl in a house on Monroe Street in Lockport, showing “a depraved indifference to human life” and creating “a grave risk of death,” as Farkas said when she read the charge aloud.
Police said the girl’s mother stopped the attack by stabbing Alfonso in the back with a knife. She was not charged.
The mother was in court but left without comment. Defense attorney David C. Douglas, who said after a court appearance Thursday that Alfonso wanted a 10-year sentencing cap, also declined to be interviewed. He had said he didn’t know whether Alfonso would plead guilty without a sentencing promise from Farkas.
“The court has discussed sentencing parameters and still has not given him any commitment as to what the sentence will be,” Deputy District Attorney Holly E. Sloma said.
email: tprohaska@buffnews.com