Akron homeless throat-slasher sentenced to eight years in prison

AKRON, Ohio - An Akron man who cut another man’s throat with a knife after an argument was given the maximum sentence of eight years in prison Friday.

Curtis T. Howard, 56, of Akron, was found guilty of one count of felonious assault in March after a September incident at the boarding house in which he was residing.

Howard argued with a man over the television volume, then hit him in the face and cut him under the chin with a pocket knife. Howard continued to chase the man out of the boarding house and two of the residents said they heard him yell “I am going to kill you!” while chasing the victim.

The victim’s injury required 19 stitches.

Howard had past incidents of a similar nature, charged with slicing the face of a homeless man two previous times. In 1994, Howard beat a man with a napkin holder and cut him in the face with a box cutter during a fight at St. Bernard’s. Howard cut another man’s face with a box cutter during a fight in 2006.

Howard pleaded guilty to aggravated assault in both of those cases.