DA: After plea, Asheville man sentenced to 5-plus years in Pisgah View stabbing death

ASHEVILLE - A man charged in a 2018 stabbing will spend around the next five to seven years in prison, according to the Buncombe County District Attorney's office.

Cecil Ambroise Thorpe, 57, of Asheville pleaded guilty in Buncombe County Superior Court to a reduced charge of voluntary manslaughter. In January 2018, he was charged with second-degree murder in the Pisgah View death of 39-year-old Justin Digiacomo. The Citizen Times previously reported that officers found Digiacomo, an Asheville resident since 2008, with a wound to his upper torso. He died at the scene.

Neither Digiacomo nor Thorpe lived at Pisgah View but were known to stay there occasionally, a spokesperson for the Asheville Police Department said at the time.

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Digiacomo's family was consulted and supported the resolution, according to a Sept. 26 news release from the DA's office.

"Thorpe had previously been determined to lack capacity to proceed," the release says. "Today, after reviewing evidence and hearing from the parties, Superior Court Judge G. Horne determined that Thorpe was capable of proceeding, accepted his guilty plea, and entered judgment against Thorpe."

The court sentenced Thorpe to serve a 67-93 month active term of imprisonment, the release says.

Ryan Oehrli is the breaking news and social justice reporter for the Asheville Citizen Times. Send tips to coehrli@citizentimes.com.