PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — A man who had just turned 19 when he stabbed a 62-year-old woman during a smoke shop robbery will spend at least 20 years in prison.
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Avery Armknecht, now 20, pleaded guilty to attempted murder and two counts of robbery for stabbing 62-year-old Yung Sun Kim at Mr. Cigarette on Cheltenham Avenue in Elkins Park in front of her two-year-old granddaughter.
Kim’s son owns the shop. She testified through a translator that Armknecht came into the shop on Oct. 6, 2021, looked around, then left — but came back about 15 minutes later and pulled a knife.
She said she rushed her granddaughter into the office, while another employee told Armknecht to take whatever he wanted. Armknecht held the knife to Kim’s throat, then stabbed her twice in the chest. The injury required surgery.
Kim said she was dizzy and bleeding heavily as she fell to the floor, thinking she was going to die, worried about the wellbeing of her granddaughter.
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“Seeing a child sitting there, that should be enough to make you stop what you're doing. But he didn't. He continued,” said prosecutor Scott Frame. “He stabbed her in front of the little granddaughter. And it's just horrific. I can't describe it any other way.”
Armknecht is from Delaware and was living in Norristown while attending a technical school in Exton.
An expert witness called by the defense said he believes previously undiagnosed mental health issues, including paranoia, had been building up in Armknecht and came out that day.
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Armknecht’s lawyer argued he had no criminal record or history of violence at the time, and he was self-medicating with marijuana. But Montgomery County judge Wendy Rothstein was not swayed. She sentenced Armknecht to 23 to 46 years in state prison, telling him there are no words to adequately describe the heinousness of the crime, society cannot tolerate unnecessary violence, and there must be consequences .
“I think the judge got the horrificness of the crime, the life changing effect on victims,” Frame said.
Armknecht’s lawyer declined comment.
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