Teen to stand trial in fatal stabbing of fisherman

Levi C. Acre-Kendall
Levi C. Acre-Kendall
Courtesy Polk County Sheriff

A judge in western Wisconsin has ordered a Minnesota teen to stand trial on charges of fatally stabbing a fisherman during a confrontation along the St. Croix River.

Nineteen-year-old Levi Acre-Kendall is charged with first-degree reckless homicide in the April 14 death of 34-year-old Peter Kelly at Interstate State Park in St. Croix Falls on the border of Minnesota.

KMSP-TV reports Acre-Kendall's attorney argued in Polk County Circuit Court Wednesday that the defendant was acting in self-defense. Acre-Kendall fled after the deadly riverfront confrontation, but surrendered to authorities two days later. Officials say two friends with Acre-Kendall at the time are witnesses, but not suspects.

A criminal complaint says authorities have recovered a knife investigators say was used in the homicide from the defendant's home in Cambridge.

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