GOSHEN – An Orange County grand jury has cleared Middletown resident Eusten Coppin III, 23, of a murder charge in the stabbing death of Nicholas LaCantina, 22, of Campbell Hall.
The incident occurred on Sunday, February 20 at a residence on Maryland Avenue in Middletown.
Coppin’s attorney, Michael Sussman, said the victim’s brother told law enforcement that LaCantina asked him for a knife before running onto Coppin’s porch, ran past Coppin, who had arrived to try to defuse weeks of tension, and threw the first punch at Coppin, who stabbed him during the ensuing struggle after he saw the victim with that knife.
“This tragedy again illuminates how violence begets violence and teaches a terribly painful lesson to all involved,” Sussman said following the grand jury action.
