A 20-year-old Arkansas man pleaded not guilty Wednesday to a first-degree murder charge in the fatal stabbing last month of a man who tried to break up a fight.
Hector M. Solivan of Springdale entered a not guilty plea at his hearing in Washington County Circuit Court, the Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reported.
Police said they found 44-year-old Luis Esmurria-Anaya bleeding on a staircase at 1705 Lowell Road shortly after 2 a.m. May 7. He was stabbed four times and pronounced dead at a local hospital, the paper reported.
Witnesses told police that Esmurria-Anaya was trying to break up a fight when he was stabbed.
Solivan was arrested in the death. Police reportedly said the 20-year-old admitted to stabbing the 44-year-old and watched him fall to the ground and have a "seizure."
He was held at the Washington County jail in lieu of a $250,000 bond.
A court date is set for Aug. 18.
Click here to read the Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette's story.
