Man sentenced to life in prison in fatal stabbing

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — A man who stabbed a stranger to death in his northeast Charlotte home will spend life in prison.

Antoine Young pleaded guilty Thursday afternoon to murdering Chris Radok in January 2011. Prosecutors agreed to life in prison in exchange for not pursuing the death penalty.

"The intensity of his loss has increased. I miss him every day," said Chris' brother, Uwe Radok.

Uwe lives in England and traveled to Charlotte for the court hearing.

Prosecutors said Young beat Radok with a bat and stabbed him multiple times with different knives.

"This was very savage, one of the worst crime scene pictures I've had to review and go over," said prosecutor Gabrielle Macon.

Chris Radok had been a photographer for Charlotte newspaper Creative Loafing. He most recently worked as an engineer at the Ritz-Carlton hotel, and he was set to be promoted right before his murder.

"All those possibilities and all that future was dashed by this senseless and stupid and worthless murder," Uwe said.

Uwe Radok agreed to the plea deal because he didn't want to face years of appeals in pursuing the death penalty.

"I'm quite satisfied that Antoine Young will never see the outside of a prison again. He'll never harm anyone again. I'm quite happy with that," he said.

Young's lawyers say he's a paranoid schizophrenic who was off his medication at the time of the murder.  He didn't have any friends or family members in court.

"He realized that an innocent man had been killed and he was sorry from the very beginning," said Norman Butler.

The judge reached out to Uwe after the sentencing and told him to try and remember the good times with his brother.

Uwe will soon head back across the ocean, and for the first time in almost two years, he said he'll have peace.

WSOC