UMass Dartmouth football player killed in stabbing; fellow student charged with murder

A University of Massachusetts Dartmouth football player was killed and a second player wounded early Saturday in a stabbing attack in Providence, Rhode Island, authorities said. A fellow UMass Dartmouth student has been arrested and charged with murder.

The incident occurred after freshman running back Marvins Antoine and other players from the team went to a night club in Providence just hours after they lost a home football game to Framingham State. 

Providence police said there was an altercation at the nightclub, called the Mezzo Lounge. The altercation moved across the street to the parking lot of a Wendy’s restaurant around midnight, where two players were stabbed.

Antoine, 18, was rushed to Rhode Island Hospital where he died from stab wounds to the chest. The injured player, identified by the school as 19-year-old freshman defensive back Kensley Macean, was taken to the hospital with what police said were non-life-threatening injuries to his head, neck and left arm. 

At a news conference Saturday afternoon, Providence Police Chief Oscar Perez said another UMass Dartmouth student, 19-year-old Chukuwnonoso Uzoma Eze, had been arrested on campus and was being held by UMass Dartmouth police until he can be brought to Rhode Island to face a murder charge. 

The chief said Eze is not on the football team, and investigators are still looking into what led up to the stabbing. 

“There was an altercation between a female and some of the victims that were in line,” Perez said. “And then the altercation moved over to the parking lot of the Wendy’s but we have no indication that they knew each other.” 

Perez also said that Flock cameras in the area were used to identify the car in which Eze fled the scene. The chief said that helped investigators locate him on campus. 

The UMass Dartmouth campus is about 30 miles southeast from Providence and about 60 miles south of Boston.  

“Our hearts and prayers are very much with Marvins’ family, friends, classmates, and teammates as we mourn his loss together,” UMass Dartmouth Chancellor Mark Fuller said in a statement. “We also send our prayers and best wishes for Kensley’s recovery, and hope that he will be able to resume his education here soon.” 

According to the university, Antoine graduated from Durfee High School in Fall River. Orlando Delgado, one of Antoine’s former high school teammates, told WBZ-TV that Antoine was a role model for many of the younger players. 

“He always wanted to say how he wanted to be in the NFL. He always wanted to either have me and him be on the same team or me and him play against each other and go touchdown for touchdown,” Delgado said. “He was super loyal. He was an example setter. He was just always a good person to be around.”

“He was a peacemaker. So to hear about a situation like this it’s very devastating. It’s hurtful. This is a sad situation because he’s not that type of child,” said Delgado’s mother Ashania Chambers. 

“He was just a good person all around. He was like an older brother to everybody, to all of us, like my friends, and just everybody in the grade,” said Xavier Gracia, another former high school teammate.