Fatal Stabbing of Cedar Grove Teen Was Self-Defense, Attorney Says

A Totowa man accused of fatally stabbing a recent Cedar Grove High School grad with a steak knife early Monday morning plead not guilty in state court Wednesday, Passaic County Assistant Prosecutor Michael DeMarco said. 

Jonathan Lafontaine, 20, made his first court appearance since he was charged with first-degree murder for allegedly killing 18-year-old Brian Topoleski of Cedar Grove after they and their friends engaged in a confrontation outside a house in Little Falls.

Lafontaine's attorney said his client feared for his life and acted in self-defense, NJ.com reported.

Lafontaine was found hiding behind a house on Jacobus Avenue in Little Falls around 3 a.m. Monday morning after a two-hour long standoff with a SWAT team, Passaic County prosecutors said Tuesday.

Police responded to a report of a stabbing outside the house at 1 a.m. and discovered Topoleski wounded to the chest, prosecutors said.

The teen was taken to St. Joseph’s Regional Medical Center where he died approximately an hour after he was injured.

Topoleski and Lafontaine did not know each other prior to encountering one another as passengers in cars traveling through Little Falls Monday morning. Lafontaine and his friends mistakenly thought they recognized the people in the car Topoleski was riding in, and the groups of young people exchanged words.

Topoleski and his friends followed the other car a mile-and-a-half to a house on Jacobus Avenue.

The groups resumed their confrontation outside the house when prosecutors said Lafontaine went inside to the kitchen and grabbed two steak knives from the kitchen.

Prosecutors said Lafontaine punched and stabbed Topoleski and then hid behind the house when police arrived.

Four people inside the house surrendered to police after a long standoff with the SWAT team. The occupants of the house were taken into custody and later released after it was determined they were witnesses, prosecutors said.

Lafontaine was arrested without incident when he was found hiding in the back yard.

The case has been referred to a grand jury, DeMarco said.

Lafontaine is being held in Passaic County Jail in Paterson on $1.5 million bail.

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