Man sentenced to 20 years for fatal stabbing

GASTONIA — Gastonia man Steven Neely was sentenced to 20 years in prison on Tuesday for murdering his ex-wife's new husband.

The 58-year-old chose to take a plea in the case instead of taking a retrial.

Neely said his mother was just taken off of life support and his family would have been preparing for her funeral at the same time he was preparing for a retrial.  He did not want to put his family through both of those things at the same time.

"I can't put them through another trial," Neely said.

In 2013 Neely got into an argument with David Colbert, his ex-wife's new husband.

During the trial Neely said Colbert was intentionally interfering in a Neely plan to sell his home. He said Colbert then tried to buy the house for cheap.

"I just snapped, I had had enough," Neely said.

He stabbed Colbert, chased him down the street, then repeatedly stabbed him.

As Colbert lay dying in the street, Neely sat nearby eating a sandwich and reading the Bible. The jury was hung during Neely's August trial.

Neely apologized in court on Tuesday, saying "Vengeance does not belong to me. It's not for me to decide. I have learned from my parents you do not return evil for evil."

He apologized to prosecutors, Colbert's family and his ex-wife.

"I forgave him a long time ago. I had to get right with God in my heart and I pray that he was right with God in his heart," Neely said.

None of Neely's family members were in court Tuesday. He said he did not tell them because he did not want them to worry about them. He plans on sitting down with his children from jail on Wednesday.