The Haifa District Court on Thursday sentenced a 20-year-old Acre youth to 15 years in prison for killing his mother's boyfriend, Naftali Shamir.

Ali Abu-Ayash was convicted after a plea bargain was agreed upon by both sides, according to which the charge was dropped from murder to manslaughter.

According to the indictment, Shamir was killed during his birthday celebration when an argument broke out between him and his girlfriend, Abu-Ayash's mother. During the fight, Shamir attacked his girlfriend, wounding her. Ali Abu-Ayash, who was nearby at the time, heard the incident and hurried to the scene.

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When he saw his mother was wounded, Abu-Ayash pulled out a knife and stabbed Shamir multiple times. Shamir died of his wounds a short while later.

The defense emphasized in its argument that Abu-Ayash was only 19 years old at the time of the attack, adding that he had stabbed Shamir out of the pain of seeing his mother wounded.