Oct 26, 2021 2 min read

A man accused of attempting to help his friend cover up the stabbing of a pregnant woman inside her Coal Center home last December pleaded guilty to a felony charge in Washington County Court last week and was sentenced to prison.

Troy Matthew Chiera, 35, of Centerville, pleaded guilty Wednesday to conspiracy to flight to avoid apprehension after investigators said he helped his friend, Dylan Justin Lesnik, following the Dec. 14 stabbing of the woman that left her with severe injuries.

Investigators said Chiera helped Lensik record a cellphone video of the victim, Cassie King, in which they coerced her to claim another man committed the stabbing at her house. King was Lesnik’s girlfriend at the time, but she survived the attack in which her ear and neck were slashed, and she suffered injuries to her spine after Lesnik punched her multiple times.

Chiera helped Lesnik sell his vehicle following the assault, and later told investigators Lesnik disposed of the butcher knife he used to slash King by throwing it behind the apartment building.

Following Chiera’s guilty plea, President Judge John DiSalle sentenced him to serve 3½ to 7 years in prison. All other charges against Chiera, including conspiracy charges related to attempted homicide and aggravated assault, were dismissed as part of the plea deal.

Lesnik, 29, of Coal Center, was also accused of stabbing to death his neighbor, Marshall Y. Craig, a few days after assaulting King. He pleaded guilty in April to first-degree murder and attempted homicide in the two cases, and was sentenced by DiSalle to serve life in prison.

Chiera was not charged in connection with Craig’s murder.