Eric Bent sentenced in stabbing deaths case

Jul. 12—PRINCETON — A man is facing up to 30 years in prison after being sentenced Monday on charges stemming from stabbings that left one man dead and three others injured in 2020.

Eric Arthur Bent, 32, of North Carolina and Ohio, pleaded guilty May 16 before Circuit Court Judge William Sadler to voluntary manslaughter, malicious wounding and unlawful assault. In February 2021, the Mercer County Grand Jury indicted Bent on charges including second-degree murder, malicious assault and grand larceny.

The case began on Sept 26, 2020 when deputies with the Mercer County Sheriff's Department were dispatched to a Cabell Street home near Princeton. One victim who ran to a Webster Street home told deputies that "Arthur" had stabbed him.

Deputies found Freddie O'Dell, 57, of Princeton face down on the floor when they arrived on Cabell Street. Investigators called the home "a local drug house." O'Dell had five stab wounds in the center of his back and stab wounds were found at his heart and collarbone. A serrated bread knife was found in his right hand.

Another stabbing victim was found in a chair behind the house and a third, Derick Price, testified at Bent's preliminary hearing that he ran from the house after Bent woke him up and attacked him with two knifes.

Price said he was covered with blood when he reached Rogers Street and flagged down a passing motorist who took him to Princeton Community Hospital.

Bent was apprehended near the intersection of Brick Street and Rogers Street after a car that was reported stolen at Webster Street was found. Deputies were about to start a search with help from a Princeton Police Department K-9 unit when Bent emerged from nearby woods.

After being read his Miranda Rights, Bent said at the sheriff's department that he stabbed the men and it all "happened in a dream." The court later ruled that this statement was inadmissible, Prosecuting Attorney Brian Cochran said after the sentencing Monday.

"It was a fair and just result considering the admissible evidence we could use in court," Cochran said.

Sadler sentenced Bent to the maximum prison terms for all three charges. Bent was sentenced to a maximum determinate sentence of 15 years for voluntary manslaughter, then an indeterminate term of two to 10 years for malicious wounding. Bent was sentenced to an indeterminate term of another one to five years for unlawful assault.

The sentences will run consecutively. Bent is facing between 18 to 30 years in prison.

O'Dell's sister, Carrie Walters, spoke to the court about her brother before Bent was sentenced.

"I miss him very much," she said. "It's hard to deal with this. It's very hard. He was always there for us and it's hard to deal with. It's hard to deal with."

Sadler said that he sympathized with the family's loss.

"There is nothing the court can say or do to heal the loss you have suffered," he said, adding that Monday's proceedings may provide some comfort in the future.

Sadler said that prior to Bent's incarceration, he did not have a criminal record beyond some pending misdemeanor offenses in North Carolina. Bent had been "heavily under the use of methamphetamine" during the stabbings.

Sadler added that Bent's case was a cautionary tale about drug abuse.

"In time, you lose your character and your moral compass," he said.

— Contact Greg Jordan at gjordan@bdtonline.com