NORTHAMPTON — A plea deal that would have sent a Northampton man to state prison for three years for allegedly suffocating his mother and assaulting another man with a knife, fell apart in Hampshire Superior Court on Tuesday and the case will now go to trial.
Kevin J. McDonald, 44, was prepared to plead guilty to charges of assault and battery on an elderly person, suffocation, and assault with a dangerous weapon as part of a plea deal that called for him to serve three years in state prison and two years of probation with several conditions.
However, Judge John Ferrara did not accept all of the terms and called for five years of probation instead. Ferrara also said he would take personal jurisdiction over McDonald’s case and warned that he would face more prison time if he violates his probation.
“He’s got a horrible record,” Ferrara said. “It’s not a question of if he’s going to commit another crime. It’s just a matter of when.”
“I’m just exasperated in looking at Mr. McDonald’s record,” he added.
Ferrara’s terms came after he reviewed McDonald’s criminal record. After a brief court recess, McDonald withdrew his plea.
Ferrara noted that McDonald’s criminal past includes assault charges and jail sentences dating back 25 years, as well as nine restraining orders, some taken out by his mother, who was in court Tuesday.
McDonald has been held in the Hampshire County Jail since his arrest on May 27, 2015, on charges of strangulation, suffocation and assault and battery on an elderly person, as well as a separate case from April 28, 2015, for which he was charged with armed robbery and assault with a dangerous weapon.
As part of the plea deal, the prosecution agreed to drop the charges of armed robbery, a life felony charge, and strangulation. Ferrara also noted that McDonald could face up to 13 years in prison on the three charges to which he had initially agreed to plea guilty Tuesday.
McDonald allegedly assaulted his mother during an argument that began when he tried to use a phone against her will at her High Street home in Florence.
According to Assistant District Attorney Jennifer Suhl, McDonald put his hands over his mother’s nose and mouth, blocking her airways, and put her in a chokehold.
“He yelled ‘I’m going to kill you. I hate your guts and if I go back to jail I’m going to get someone to kill you from the outside,’” Suhl said in court.
Suhl said McDonald’s daughter had called 911 about the incident after she was on the phone with her father and heard her grandmother yelling in the background.
In the April 28 case, McDonald allegedly held a knife to a 59-year-old man’s throat at the Northampton Lodging House on Pleasant Street and threatened to kill him while demanding money, according to Suhl.
Defense attorney Rachel Lynn Weber said in court that McDonald accepted responsibility for his actions and that he was willing to participate in certified batterer intervention and drug rehabilitation programs. She said his mother did not want to see her son jailed anymore but supported the terms of the plea deal presented in court Tuesday.
Weber said McDonald’s family has struggled with trauma and substance abuse, which continues today. She told the judge that 10 years ago, McDonald’s mother stabbed him, which resulted in criminal charges.
“Mr. McDonald and his mother have a long and quite sad history together,” Weber said. “It’s a long, sad story in that family, your honor.”
As part of the plea deal presented in court, Weber had requested that McDonald’s three-year prison sentence begin in three weeks so that he could attend to some family matters, which Ferrara also rejected. Instead, Ferrara wanted McDonald’s prison term to begin without delay.
Dan Crowley can be reached at dcrowley@gazettenet.com.