Teenager who killed man over spilled coffee gets 20 years

Marquest Hall, right, 17, is sentenced to 20 years in prison for the stabbing death of 52-year-old Antonio Muralles outside of Stamford’s downtown McDonalds in March 2015, during a sentencing hearing in Stamford Superior Court in Stamford, Conn., Tuesday, July 18, 2017. (Michael Cummo/Hearst Connecticut Media via AP)

STAMFORD, Conn. — A Connecticut teenager, who fatally stabbed a man outside a fast-food restaurant during a dispute over spilled coffee has been sentenced to 20 years in prison.

The Stamford Advocate reported that 17-year-old Marquest Hall was sentenced Tuesday by a judge who called the March 2015 killing of 52-year-old Antonio Muralles “brutal, senseless and totally unnecessary.”

Hall pleaded guilty in March to first-degree manslaughter. He’s eligible for parole in 12 years.

Prosecutors said Muralles had just left a Stamford McDonald’s with a coffee when he inadvertently bumped into Hall and a friend and spilled some coffee on them.

Hall was 15 at the time but was charged as an adult. The proceedings were held in open court.

Hall did not speak at sentencing. But his lawyer said he’s remorseful.