Killer Who Stabbed Hackensack Couple More Than 50 Times Combined Gets 48 Years: Prosecutor
Authorities said a Paterson man was sentenced to 48 years in New Jersey State Prison for ruthlessly killing two persons with over 50 knife wounds on the front porch and inside a Hackensack residence.
Stanley Gunter, Clarence Stokes, and Latrice Avery
In connection with the murders of Stanley Gunter and Latrice Avery, Clarence Stokes has been sentenced.
According to Bergen County Prosecutor Mark Musella, 46-year-old Clarence Stokes was sentenced Tuesday, July 29, in Bergen County Superior Court for the August 2021 stabbings of Hackensack residents Stanley Gunter, 67, and Latrice Avery, 44.
As previously reported by Daily Voice, on August 25, 2021, Stokes reportedly visited Stanley Gunter and Latrice Avery to talk about sharing a room at their Fairmount Avenue residence.
A source with knowledge of the incident earlier told Daily Voice that a dispute about the terms of his stay erupted before becoming fatal.
After receiving a 911 call, police discovered Avery with many stab wounds to her arms, body, and head. She passed away at HMH Hackensack University Medical Center after being transported there.
Upstairs, Gunter was discovered. He was declared dead at the spot despite Hackensack EMS’s best efforts to resuscitate him.
In contrast, Stokes was discovered “walking down the street with blood on his clothing,” according to a previous Daily Voice article.
Stokes was discovered drenched in blood and several homes down. Prosecutors said that doorbell footage showed him “brutally killing” Avery on the front porch and that a knife was found nearby.
Avery suffered at least 36 stab wounds, according to an autopsy. According to the prosecutor’s office, Gunter had at least 21 people who were suffering from organ failure.
Stokes was convicted under the No Early Release Act, which requires him to spend 85% of his sentence before he is eligible for parole, after entering a guilty plea to two charges of murder on January 8, 2025.
Prosecutor Musella expressed gratitude to the medical staff who helped the victims as well as the detectives and first responders who worked the case.
