Lake Milton man pleads guilty to manslaughter charge

YOUNGSTOWN — After the prosecution dropped a murder charge, the man charged in a fatal stabbing last year at Lake Milton pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter and tampering with evidence.

Edward A. Miller Jr., 22, of Roselawn Drive, Lake Milton, entered his guilty plea Wednesday before Judge James C. Evans of Mahoning County Common Pleas Court in the Feb. 7, 2008, stabbing death of Eric E. Showalter, 28, of Diamond.

Miller, who remains on electronically monitored house arrest, faces three to 15 years in prison when Judge Evans sentences him at 10 a.m. July 24.

Miller and Showalter had agreed to fight in Lake Shore Plaza near El Carlos Mexican Restaurant on Mahoning Avenue after Miller’s work shift at the restaurant ended, police said.

Showalter arrived with a club; Miller emerged from the restaurant kitchen with a restaurant-owned knife he wasn’t authorized to take; and Miller stabbed Showalter in the chest with the knife before throwing it into a trash bin, police said.