CASSOPOLIS — A Dowagiac man who stabbed three acquaintances last June at a home in Silver Creek Township was sentenced to prison Friday in Cass County Circuit Court.

      John Henry Coons, 29, of Prairie Ronde in Dowagiac, pleaded guilty to assault with intent to commit murder and was sentenced to 19 years to 50 years in prison. He has credit for 246 days served and must pay $1,048 in fines and costs.

      Coons also had his probation revoked and given credit for 365 days served for violating his probation from a 2022 conviction for unlawful driving away of an automobile.

      The 2024 incident occurred June 20, 2024 at a residence on School Street outside of Dowagiac. According to statements made in court, Coons went to the home and began stabbing the three people in the home after an argument.

Two of the people survived while a third, a woman, died three weeks later. Her death was ruled to be of natural causes since she had other underlying health problems such as sepsis.

Assistant Prosecutor Jason Ronning, defense attorney Greg Feldman and Cass County Circuit Court Judge Mark Herman all expressed some sympathy for Coons who claims that the three people he attacked had either molested him and his brother when they were children or had condoned the molestation.

“This is somewhat of a difficult case, the big lesson here is that hopefully will be sent is that you cannot lash out or seek vengeance for things that happened in the past,” Ronning said. “… It’s an incredibly sad case.”

“I’m completely comfortable in saying that the system failed him with the abuse he suffered from a young age,” Feldman said. “I have had extensive discussions with him that he wished he had gotten help previously for the abuse he suffered.”

Coons said he takes responsibility for his actions, but said that the system had failed him and his brother. He said he snapped and blacked out during the stabbing incident. “Unlike them, I know what I did was wrong and am remorseful,” he said. “It took me 25 years for me to say this, that I forgive them. It’s time for me to let go of the hurt I suffered as a child.”     

“I will not let this break me, I hope people will see that I can change, I will show everyone that I can make a difference,” he added. “I hope others will come forward and speak up. I did not intend to murder anyone, it all happened in split second. I hope can redeem myself.”

Judge Herman noted that Coons was using meth at the time of the incident and said he was sure that it didn’t help the situation. “I read your reasons about why this happened and that it boiled over after years of rage,” he said. “I wish you had reached out for help at Woodlands and with Swift & Sure rather than reaching out for meth. No one is better off for what happened in this incident.”

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