BELLINGHAM, WA (MyBellinghamNow.com) – A Bellingham man has been sentenced for stabbing his former roommate near downtown last summer

Court documents state that 25-year-old Bennie Washington will spend nearly 16 years in prison after a jury found him guilty of attempted murder.

My Bellingham Now previously reported that police arrested Washington in June 2025 after finding a man with two stab wounds in his back near the Whatcom County Jail.

Witnesses told police that the victim had been in a fight with Washington and another man when they stabbed him.

The victim was sent to the hospital and recovered from the attack but suffered a fractured vertebrae and a punctured diaphragm. He told police that he used to be roommates with Washington.

The other attacker, 18-year-old Jose Juarez-Montes of Everett, was sentenced in November to three years in prison.

Each of their sentencings will be followed by over a year in community custody.