Courtney Levine | Homicide Watch Trenton

Sex offender gets reduced prison sentence in Trenton homicide case

Sulaiman Abdur-Rahman — Thu, 07 Jun 2018 19:16:50 -0400

The convicted sex offender who stabbed and killed 26-year-old Trenton man Courtney Levine in 2012 has been resentenced to lesser prison time.

David Noncent (New Jersey Department of Corrections Photo)

David Noncent of Ewing was originally hit with 13 years of state incarceration in March 2017 after pleading guilty to first-degree aggravated manslaughter, but Mercer County Superior Court Judge Peter Warshaw on May 7 reduced the punishment to 10 years behind bars.

Prosecutors long ago offered Noncent a plea deal calling for a 10-year prison sentence for manslaughter, but Warshaw last year suggested it was fair and in the interests of justice to imprison him for 13 years.

Noncent was originally charged with murder and weapons offenses but pleaded guilty Dec. 6, 2016, to an amended single count of first-degree aggravated manslaughter. He admits he killed Levine in the first block of Chapel Street on Dec. 4, 2012.

The homicide victim was the brother of Noncent’s ex-girlfriend. Noncent and Levine were arguing over alleged domestic violence issues between Noncent and his ex-girlfriend when the registered sex offender pierced a knife into the victim’s lung, causing him to bleed to death internally, according to the Mercer County Prosecutor’s Office. Noncent surrendered to police the following day.

On March 23, 2017, Warshaw sentenced Noncent to 13 years of state incarceration pursuant to the No Early Release Act requiring he serve 85 percent of the term behind bars before being paroled. Noncent filed an appeal on May 31, 2017, apparently viewing the sentence as too harsh.

Mercer County Assistant Prosecutor Joseph Paravecchia ultimately filed a motion on April 25 requesting a modified sentence. Warshaw on May 7 granted the motion and resentenced Noncent to 10 years of state imprisonment subject to the No Early Release Act, according to court records.

Noncent was awarded 1,569 days of jail credit and 411 days of prison service credit in the Trenton homicide case. He is scheduled to be released from East Jersey State Prison on June 5, 2021, and will thereafter be subjected to five years of parole supervision, records show.

Warshaw also ordered Noncent to provide a DNA sample and ordered him to pay the costs for testing of the sample provided. Public defender Stephen E. Kirsch represented Noncent at the May 7 resentencing hearing.

With Noncent being resentenced to lesser prison time, the state Judiciary dismissed his appeal on May 9. Noncent’s 10-year prison sentence is being served concurrent to the five-year prison sentences he received for violating probation in cases where he previously got convicted of theft and terroristic threats.

More than a self-confessed killer, Noncent had a criminal career that spanned two decades in both Burlington and Mercer counties. He was convicted of criminal sexual contact against two juvenile females in 1995 after pleading guilty on two counts, according to court records.

The New Jersey Department of Corrections lists Noncent’s date of birth as Jan. 28, 1961, which would make him 57. The state’s sex offender registry, however, says Noncent’s date of birth is Jan. 28, 1972, which would make him 46. Noncent has numerous aliases such as Howard Barnes and David Putty, which could perhaps explain why authorities have two different dates of birth for the same man as confirmed by fingerprints.

All of Noncent’s criminal case files in New Jersey identify him by the same unique State Bureau of Identification or SBI number.

Judge Warshaw has a history of reducing the severity of his prison sentences. In 2016 he sentenced self-confessed killer Curtis J. Grier to 10 years of state incarceration for slaying 24-year-old Jahmir Hall and resentenced Grier earlier this year to seven years of state incarceration pursuant to the No Early Release Act requiring him to serve 85 percent of the maximum term before being paroled.

Convicted sex offender gets 13 years for killing Trenton man

Sulaiman Abdur-Rahman — Mon, 27 Mar 2017 18:17:14 -0400

David Noncent

The convicted sex offender who fatally stabbed 26-year-old Trenton man Courtney Levine on Dec. 4, 2012, has been sentenced to 13 years in state prison.

David Noncent, 45, who previously pleaded guilty to first-degree aggravated manslaughter, received the prison sentence last Thursday at the Mercer County Criminal Courthouse before Superior Court Judge Peter Warshaw. He must serve 85 percent of his sentence behind bars before he can become eligible for parole under New Jersey’s No Early Release Act.

Noncent killed Levine in the first block of Chapel Street and turned himself in to police the following day. The victim was the brother of Noncent’s former girlfriend.

Courtney Levine

Prior to the fatal knife attack, Noncent and Levine were arguing over alleged domestic violence issues involving Noncent and his ex-girlfriend. The verbal altercation between both men then escalated into a foot chase that ended with Noncent piercing a knife into Levine’s lung, causing the victim to bleed to death internally, according to the Mercer County Prosecutor’s Office.

Key witness in Trenton murder trial may not be fit to take stand

Isaac Avilucea — Thu, 06 Aug 2015 12:22:59 -0400

Courtney Levine

The mental state of a key witness in David Noncent’s upcoming murder trial remains up in the air despite a report from the woman’s psychiatrist declaring her competent to testify.

A judge said at a hearing Wednesday he would ultimately decide at trial the fitness of the woman to testify. Prosecutors want to tape her testimony at an upcoming hearing outside of the jury’s presence while she is still competent and play it for a jury at trial if she is deemed incompetent in the future.

Attorneys for Noncent, a convicted sex offender who is accused of fatally stabbing 26-year-old Courtney Levine on Dec. 4, 2012, began probing the woman’s mental state after they learned she was committed to a state psychiatric facility.

The woman, the victim’s sister, was previously dating Noncent and had accused him of sexually assaulting her shortly after she was released from the hospital where she gave birth to her dead baby, prosecutors have said.

Levine confronted Noncent after he learned of the alleged rape of his sister, who was still traumatized after her child died as doctors tried to deliver her baby through a cesarean section.

Levine bled out after he was stabbed once in the chest, piercing his lung.

The circumstances surrounding the commitment of Levine’s sister remain cloudy. The only explanation offered in court was that she had been involuntarily committed to Ancora Psychiatric Hospital in Hammonton following a “crisis situation.”

The woman was hospitalized at St. Francis Medical Center before that, said Nicole Carlo, an attorney for Noncent.

Carlo said she has obtained the woman’s medical records and plans to have an expert review them so he or she can determine whether the witness is competent.

Carlo said she was unsure whether her expert would need to evaluate the woman in order to make that determination.

Deputy First Assistant Prosecutor Kimm Lacken objected to having a defense-appointed expert evaluate the witness on the grounds that her competency is no longer in question. She said the woman’s psychiatrist deemed her fit, although she conceded the woman’s mental state is constantly in flux depending on whether she takes her medication.

Billmeier warned the prosecutor he would be left with no choice but to rule the witness incompetent if she is not well enough to go forward on the day of trial. He said he was also leery of the idea of allowing prosecutors to tape the woman’s testimony at a pretrial hearing and use it at trial if she is ruled mentally unavailable going forward.

Billmeier said it was only fair to the defendant that a jury be allowed to hear from the witness in person so it could assess her credibility.

City man charged in death of ex-girlfriend’s brother

Isaac Avilucea — Mon, 09 Mar 2015 19:49:04 -0400

A city man charged in the 2012 stabbing death of the brother of his former girlfriend allegedly sexually assaulted his former girlfriend shortly after she was released from a hospital where she gave birth to her dead child, prosecutors said.

David Noncent, whose age was unavailable, is charged in the Dec. 4, 2012 murder of 26-year-old Courtney Levine. Levine intervened on behalf of his sister when she had told him about the alleged rape, Deputy First Assistant Prosecutor Kimm Lacken said at a Monday status conference.

Lacken wouldn’t say whether prosecutors expect to bring charges against Noncent, who has been offered a plea deal calling for a 10-year sentence for manslaughter, for the alleged sexual assault, which took place after the woman needed a cesarean section in order to help her give birth.

An initial offer extended by prosecutors called for Noncent to serve 30 years in state prison. His attorney, Jason Charles Matey, extended a counter offer of 5 years.

Levine’s sister, who is expected to testify against her former boyfriend, was traumatized after her child died during delivery, but Noncent still allegedly forced himself on her when she returned home.

Prosecutors said the couple had a history of domestic disputes and the alleged sexual assault helps shed light on Noncent’s motive for the murder.

What started as an argument between Noncent and Levine inside the Chapel Street home Levine shared with his sister quickly turned violent.

Noncent stabbed Levine once in the chest, piercing his lung. Levine bled to death internally.

Noncent offered an alibi for himself for the time of the murder by having family members account for his whereabouts, but Lacken said authorities disproved it.

Noncent, a convicted sex-offender, has been arrested more than a dozen times. In 1995, he was convicted of criminal sexual contact against two underage females, court records show.

He remains jailed on $1 million bail.

Communities of Light raises awareness for domestic violence victims

Brian Dzenis — Mon, 10 Dec 2012 23:48:17 -0500

Womanspace, a Mercer County non-profit aimed to support victims of domestic violence regardless of age, race or gender, held its 11th annual Communities of Light vigil at City Hall last night. In Trenton, domestic violence is believed to be behind two homicides this year. On Nov. 16, Ruschell Fireall was allegedly killed by William Marshall, a man whom Fireall had taken out a restraining order against and Courtney Levine was allegedly killed by David Noncent after intervening in a altercation between his sister and Noncent, her boyfriend.

“We feel it whenever there is a domestic homicide,” Patricia Hart, the director of Womanspace said. “We wonder what we could have done to help.”

The vigil was held not just for those who have been lost to domestic violence, but for those who may still be struggling with the issue. And not just in Trenton, but across Mercer County and the state.

“The city is not immune to domestic violence,” Councilwoman Marge Caldwell-Wilson said. “It’s not just one person beating up their partner, we’ve found that 30 to 40 percent of kids witness this and it’s teaching them the wrong thing.”

At the vigil, luminaries that were sold with the proceeds going to Womanspace, were lit along the steps of City Hall. Hart encouraged people who purchased luminaries to display them elsewhere for victims to see.

“The luminaries send a light of hope to let them know that their neighbors support them,” Hart said. “If a victim sees them, they can come forward and not be embarrassed about it, they don’t need to be scared.”

Luminaries also were lit by three of Fireall’s friends along the 500 block of East State Street in remembrance of her and all other victims of domestic violence. Fireall’s death motivated Sylvia Sapp, a friend of Fireall’s, to volunteer with Womanspace.

“It’s what pushed me to volunteer, it felt like it was one of my relatives,” Sapp said. “I’ve encountered some of the same situations.”

“We have a tendency that we can’t live without that person, but when you leave, that’s when you really become free,” she added.

Friends referred to Fireall as “Shelly” when speaking of her, describing her as a fun-filled and spiritual individual.

“Her funeral was packed, that outpouring of love for her really spoke to her character,” Dora Jones, a friend who is considering volunteering with Womanspace, said. “This just hit to close to home, like it was right in my living room.”

For confidential information or assistance, victims or their families can contact the Mercer County Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault Hotline at (609) 394-9000.

Man dead after stabbing in Trenton

Joe D'Aquila — Wed, 05 Dec 2012 08:04:49 -0500

Police sources this morning say a man stabbed late Tuesday has died from his wounds after being brought to the hospital.

The stabbing occurred a short distance from the Battle Monument just before 11:00 p.m. on the first block of Chapel Street.

Crime scene on Chapel Street in Trenton, where a man was stabbed to death late Tuesday. (Photo By Brian Dzenis).

Trenton Emergency Medical Services personnel rushed the victim to Capital Health Regional Medical Center, where he was initially listed in critical condition.

Trenton police confirmed that the incident was a stabbing, but did not release further information late last night.

Police spent the night looking for evidence in the mostly vacant street, peeling back boarded up windows and looking in trash cans.

The stabbing happened in a violent 24-hour period where Joshua Moore was killed after getting shot multiple times inside a van on Reservoir Street and Pennington Avenue Monday.

Around 4:45 p.m. on Tuesday, four people were shot on the 200 block of Spring Street.

One victim was listed in critical condition, but may also have succumbed to his injuries at the hospital. Two victims were said to be hospitalized in stable condition and one was treated and released.

The exact circumstances of that shooting have not been released.

All three incidents occurred within less than a mile of each other.

Anyone with information regarding any of these incidents is asked to call the Trenton Police confidential tipline at (609) 989-3663 or the Crimestoppers tipline at (609) 278-8477.

Those wishing to text a tip regarding the shooting can send a message labelled TCSTIPS to Trenton Crime Stoppers at 274637.