Andrew Alston, the man convicted of stabbing Walker Sisk 18 times in a drunken Corner brawl, has filed for bankruptcy following a $3 million civil lawsuit from the victim’s family. Alston served only two and a half years in jail for the voluntary manslaughter conviction, and a hearing will determine if he can dodge the lawsuit.
Alston filed bankruptcy in the Bankruptcy Court of the Eastern District of Pennsylvania; a motion for stay was sent to the U.S. District Court in Charlottesville in an effort to halt the lawsuit.
A statement of his assets shows Alston has about $1,500 in personal property, and would owe $3,013,878.22 in damages and fees if he is found liable in the civil suit.
The Sisk family is seeking $2 million in compensatory damages and $1 million in punitive damages. A hearing will determine if the Sisks can proceed with their suit despite the bankruptcy filing.
Alston, once a UVA student, was convicted of stabbing Sisk in November 2003. During his trial, Alston brought in a martial arts expert to show how his defensive moves could have caused Sisk to stab himself 18 times.
Alston was released early from his three-year sentence on June 21. The Sisks filed suit shortly after. Their attorney, Bryan Slaughter, told C-VILLE, “[The Sisks are] after any measure of justice, and they don’t feel like they got it in the criminal case.”