Mass. man sentenced to 35 years for RI murder

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) -- A Massachusetts man has been sentenced to 35 years in prison after pleading no contest to fatally stabbing a man last year in a dispute over a barking dog.

The Providence Journal reported that Lemar U. Wilburn, whose last known address was Attleboro, Mass., was sentenced on Monday in Providence County Superior Court.

The 20-year-old Wilburn was convicted of murder in the death of Princeton Miller Jr. He received a 60-year sentence, with 35 years to serve and the remaining 25 years suspended with probation.

In court, Wilburn offered an apology to the Miller family and said he hopes he may be forgiven.

Authorities say Wilburn stabbed the 26-year-old Miller in the neck, chest, back and leg after Miller told him to stop trying to pet a dog that was barking.