Two Charged in Pittsfield Stabbing

Updated 3:17 p.m., March 8: Two men were arrested and charged with the Saturday morning stabbing death of Jahda M. Martin.

Trevor L. Pryce Jr., 28, of Spring Street, North Adams, and John C. Spratling, 26, of Cherry Street, Pittsfield, were arraigned on single counts each of murder and assault and battery by means of a dangerous weapon.

The two appeared before Judge Paul Vrabel on Monday morning in Central Berkshire District Court. Both had not-guilty pleas entered on their behalf and were ordered held at the Berkshire County House of Correction without the right to bail.

They are scheduled to return to court for a pretrial hearing on April 8.

Investigators have also applied for and received an arrest warrant for 26-year-old Terrance W. Brown in connection with Martin's death.

An autopsy to determine the cause of Martin's death has not yet been scheduled.

Once a star athlete at Lee High School, the 2002 graduate had also played basketball while attending Long Island University.

Pittsfield Man Slain in Stabbing

Original post, March 7, 9:42 a.m.: A Pittsfield man died Saturday evening after apparently being stabbed earlier Saturday in an altercation near the Burger King on First Street.
 
The Berkshire district attorney's office said that Jahda M. Martin, 26, of Hamlin Street, was rushed to Berkshire Medical Center by ambulance in the early morning hours after police received several 911 calls at about 1:40 a.m. reporting a stabbing in the fast-food restaurant's parking lot on Wendell Avenue Extension. Police and emergency medical technicians found Martin at the scene.

The Berkshire Eagle reported that the lot is commonly used for parking by patrons of nearby Club Groove and that police said Martin had left the bar when the altercation occurred. This is the city's first homicide of the year.

An autopsy to determine the cause of death will be conducted at the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner in Holyoke. The date and time of the autopsy have yet to be determined.

Investigators are asking anyone who may have information regarding this incident to call the Pittsfield Police Department at 413-448-9700.
 
The investigation is being conducted by members of the Pittsfield Police Department, state police detectives assigned to the district attorney's office, state police from the Crime Scene Services Section and members of the Berkshire County Drug Task Force.