Woman Stabbed 54 Times: Lashon Hollman Accused of Murder
Lashon Hollman could face life in prison after being charged with first-degree murder in the case of a woman who was stabbed 54 times.
The 21-year-old Michigan man was convicted on Wednesday of first-degree murder. He is accused of killing Cassandra Nelson, whose body was found Feb. 2, 2012, in a Saginaw home. Nelson, 27, had been stabbed 54 times. Hollman also allegedly dropped a television on the woman's head.
It took less than 15 minutes for a jury to decide that Hollman was guilty, according to an Associated Press report. His sentencing hearing is scheduled for May 9, and he faces a mandatory life in prison term without that possibility of parole.
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Defense lawyer Matthew Frey told the Associated Press that there were "unexplainable details that don't make sense" in the case. He added that there were portions of Nelson's life that "were not very nice."
Immediately after Nelson's death, friends came forward and suggested that the woman had made "poor decisions" in the past.
She didn't always make the best decisions and had a few problem relationships in the past, a friend told MLive in 2012, "but that doesn't mean she didn't have a good head on her shoulders."
The friend added that Nelson had moved to the Saginaw area of Michigan within the past five years attempting to escape a situation during which she was assaulted.
"Rest assured, however, that she was loved by her entire family and will be greatly missed," her father said in an email message to Mlive. "Even though she made some bad decisions in her life, she did not deserve to die in this manner."
Hollman cried in court after listening to the verdict, reports said.
To aid in their decision, jurors were shown "numerous photographs from the autopsy that showed the extent of Nelson's injuries, including pictures of chunks of skin having been sliced out of Nelson's left cheek and neck, bruising and swelling in her face, the stab wounds, and the bleeding around her brain," MLive reported.
