College Student Murders Roommate After Fast-Food Argument

A college student faces up to 11 years in prison after stabbing and killing his roommate last December during an argument about fast food, the Akron Beacon Journal reports.

Kendal Scheid and Duncan Unternaher got into what police describe as a drunken argument over fast food in their off-campus University of Akron apartment. That’s when Scheid, 23, stabbed Unternaher.

While Scheid tried to put pressure on Unternaher’s wound, the latter fell unconscious. It was unclear if Unternaher passed out due to the wound or his level of intoxication; public records of the 911 call made by a third roommate list both young men as “highly intoxicated.”

Unternaher, 23, who friends describe as happy, outgoing, outspoken and intelligent, was transported to Summa Akron City Hospital, where he died two days later.

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On Monday, Scheid, of Norwalk, Ohio, pleaded guilty (after first pleading not guilty back in December) under an agreement with prosecutors to a lesser charge of involuntary manslaughter for his roommate’s death. He was scheduled to go on trial that morning for murder.

Scheid’s attorney, Don Malarcik, called Unternaher’s death a “tragic accident” for which Scheid is “deeply remorseful.”

“Kendal and his family feel Duncan’s loss every day,” Malarcik said. “This was a terrible, tragic accident — and Kendal is deeply remorseful.”

Scheid faces up to 11 years in prison when he is sentenced on Dec. 5. There is no agreed-upon sentence. Attorneys for both sides plan to argue for their suggested sentence. He is currently free on a $60,000 bond and is being monitored by a GPS tracking device.

Scheid and Unternaher, both members of the Phi Delta Theta fraternity, had been roommates since their freshman year at the University of Akron.