Lakewood 911 stabbing caller admits plunging the knife

The Lakewood man who reported a stabbing death in the township last year has a September sentencing date - for committing it, authorities said.

Dmitri Darzhinov, 54, of Lakewood, pleaded guilty to aggravated manslaughter Monday for the death of Gela Suqiashvilli, 54, according to the office of Ocean County Prosecutor Joseph D. Coronato.

The stabbing took place shortly after midnight, June 14, 2016, investigators said. Lakewood police fielded a report through Howell PD's 911 center at about 1:04 AM.

The caller, speaking Russian and later identified as Darzhinov, told authorities that a stabbing took place at 149 East Kennedy Boulevard, building 4, apartment 7.

Patrol officers who arrived at the complex behind a strip mall near Route 9 received no response from within the apartment, but found Darzhinov in a nearby unit, authorities said.

Using language line, they established that Darzhinov and Suqiashvilli had been embroiled in a fight prior to the stabbing.

Officers broke into the apartment and found an unresponsive Suqiashvilli in a chair, his face and upper torso riddled with slashes and punctures. He was pronounced dead at 1:48 AM.

Investigators who subsequently spoke with Darzhinov ascertained that wrestling between the two escalated into the stabbing.

Charges are accusations. Defendants are presumed innocent unless, or until, found guilty in a court of law.