Bradenton man set to stand trial in fatal stabbing case

BRADENTON -- A man charged with stabbing another after a fight in a Bradenton restaurant in October 2014 is set to stand trial as a judge allows him time to consider changing his plea to guilty.

Melvin Quevedo, 22, is charged with manslaughter in the slaying of Herman Tabora-Discua. If convicted, Quevedo could face up to 30 years in prison.

At about 9 p.m. Oct. 5, 2014, Quevedo, Tabora-Discua and another man got into a fight at Mami Carmen's Restaurante, 5604 15th St. E. That fight later led to a confrontation in the parking lot of an adjacent pawn shop where detectives say Tabora-Discua punched Quevedo and then Quevedo stabbed him.

Tabora-Discua collapsed and was taken to Blake Medical Cen

ter in Bradenton where he died the next day after two emergency surgeries.

On Monday morning, with jury selection scheduled to begin, Quevedo appeared before Circuit Judge Susan Maulucci. The defense indicated that Quevedo was considering changing his plea from not guilty to guilty but was requesting some time for him to make the decision.

Maulucci had a courthouse deputy pass Quevedo a box of tissues as he became emotional during the proceedings. She then told Quevedo that she would give him until 9 a.m. Wednesday to decide whether to change his plea.

Through a Spanish-language translator, Quevedo agreed.

Assistant State Attorney Brian Chambers said should Quevedo change his plea, he would face a maximum of up to 30 years in prison. He also added that unless the court found a lesser sentence was appropriate in the case, Quevedo would face a minimum of about 10 years and three months in prison.

If Quevedo does not change his plea, the case will go to trial next week, with jury selection beginning Monday. Testimony is scheduled to take about two days.

Should he choose to change his plea, he would reserve the right to appeal Maulucci's decision that he could not use a "stand your ground" defense.

Questions also arose during Monday's court proceeding on whether Quevedo's English was good enough for him to stand trial without the aide of a translator. Maulucci determined that Quevedo did need a translator.

Jessica De Leon, Herald law enforcement reporter, can be reached at 941-745-7049. You can follow her on Twitter @JDeLeon1012.

This story was originally published May 2, 2016 at 11:31 PM with the headline "Bradenton man set to stand trial in fatal stabbing case ."