A judge has sentenced a Burlington man to at least 17½ years in prison for stabbing to death another city resident in a downtown restaurant.
Judge John Pacht handed down the sentence to 43-year-old Von Simmonds on Wednesday in Chittenden County Superior criminal court in Burlington. A jury had returned a guilty verdict last year on a second-degree murder charge for killing 23-year-old Abubakar Sharrif more than three years ago.
The incident stemmed from a fight inside Piesanos restaurant on Main Street in Burlington early on Dec. 4, 2022, according to charging documents.
A restaurant worker told police there were roughly 10 people inside the eatery when a brawl involving several people started, and that it appeared Sharrif was trying to break it up, the documents stated.
Simmonds, who was also in the restaurant, stabbed Sharrif with a kitchen knife taken from behind the counter, according to video footage captured from inside the restaurant and witness reports.
Simmonds argued unsuccessfully during his trial that he had acted in self-defense, fearing for his own safety and that of a friend who was also in the restaurant.
The judge Wednesday sentenced Simmonds to 20 years to life, all suspended except 17½ years he is to serve in prison.
Pacht said the scene was “chaotic” inside the restaurant at the time of the incident based on video footage. The judge also said it did not appear Sharrif did anything to “agitate” others.
“If anything he was trying to calm emotions,” Pacht said.
Simmonds, Pacht said, did act with “reckless disregard” that could lead to another person’s death.
“I do think there was a mix of fear, agitation and confusion that was part of this,” the judge said of Simmonds’ actions as he explained his sentence. “That led again to some unwise and, really, some tragic circumstances.”
Chittenden County Deputy State’s Attorney Andrew McFarlin asked the judge to sentence Simmonds to 30 years to life in prison. Attorney Brian Marsicovetere, representing Simmonds, called for a sentence of 20 years to life, all suspended except 10 years he would serve in prison.
Simmonds had previous convictions for federal drug offenses and was on supervised release at the time of his arrest in the murder case, according to court records.
Marsicovetere, in his arguments to the judge, said Simmonds “believed in his core” that his life and the life of his friend who was in the restaurant at the time of the fight were at risk.
“What we’ll never know here, really, is what would have happened if Mr. Simmonds did not act,” Marsicovetere said.
McFarlin, the prosecutor, said during Wednesday’s hearing that the jury had already considered Simmonds’ self-defense claim and returned the guilty verdict.
“The videos show that Mr. Sharrif was never a violent participant in this conflict,” McFarlin said. He added, “Not only did he not offer any harm, he tried to stop the violence and was rewarded for his trouble with murder.”
Lulé Aden, Sharrif’s sister, told the court Wednesday that she and her brother were born in Kenya after her mother fled violence in Somalia, seeking to provide a better life for her children. They eventually came to the United States as refugees when they were young children, Aden added.
“We arrived in the United States with dreams of safety, hope and opportunity,” she told the judge.
Aden added that she as well as others who knew her brother are still coping with his loss.
“Justice cannot bring him back,” she said to the judge. “Justice would be him being here today, raising his daughter, standing by my side at significant moments, being an uncle to my baby and continuing to make our family proud.”
