Man in fatal street fight gets 21 years

Spokane County Superior Court Judge Kathleen O’Connor described a series of random events that came together two years ago in an altercation that left a 24-year-old man dead and resulted in a 21-year prison sentence for the convicted felon who brought a knife to a fistfight.

The judge last week sentenced Matthew M. Nedeau, 26, to 252 months in prison after a Spokane jury convicted him in April of second-degree murder in connection with the July 6, 2009, slaying of Vitaly Shevchuk.

“All of us in this room shake our heads,” O’Connor said. “This didn’t have to happen.”

Read the rest of Tom Clouse’s story here.

Past coverage:

April 29: Man, woman guilty in fatal 2009 stabbing

April 20: Man, woman on trial for fatal ‘09 stabbing