YOUNGSTOWN — A Youngstown man will miss the birth of his child and serve two years in prison for stabbing another man during a fight.

Luis Deleon Otero, 30, was sentenced Tuesday morning by Mahoning County Common Pleas Court Judge Maureen Sweeney on one count of felonious assault, a second-degree felony. Otero pleaded guilty to the charge in May.

Attorneys Patrick Fening for the state and Terry Grenga for the defense said the stabbing happened at a family gathering in February 2024 after another man at the party repeatedly insulted Otero and accused him of being gay.

The incident happened in the 700 block of Palmer Avenue on the city’s South Side, and Otero was charged in October.

Fening said the state completed a presentencing report that found prison was warranted, but there were some extenuating circumstances that led the Mahoning County Prosecutor’s Office to request the minimum sentence of two to three years.

The 31-year-old victim was hospitalized with serious injuries but did survive the attack.

Grenga said her client has made great efforts to turn his life around and been largely successful, and that he has a child on the way.

Speaking to the court through an interpreter, Otero said he is “very remorseful and sorry for what happened.”

“I turned my life around and I value my family,” he said. “I want to be a better person for myself, my family and my child.”

The defense asked the court for probation instead of prison, but Sweeney told Otero he would have to serve two years behind bars, with the possibility of a third, depending upon his behavior in prison. He was given credit for 29 days served and will be on probation for 18 months to three years after his release.