Paterson man gets 48 years for brutal double murder in Hackensack

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HACKENSACK — A Paterson man was sentenced Tuesday to 48 years in state prison for the 2021 stabbing deaths of two people in a gruesome double murder that stunned a quiet Hackensack neighborhood.

Clarence Stokes, 46, received the sentence in Bergen County Superior Court under a plea deal that requires him to serve at least 85% of his term before becoming eligible for parole, in accordance with New Jersey’s No Early Release Act.

Stokes pleaded guilty in January to murdering Latrice Avery, 44, and Stanley Gunter, 67, at a multi-family residence on August 25, 2021. Prosecutors say he attacked Avery on the front porch of the home shortly before 9 p.m., stabbing her multiple times in the head, arms, and torso. She died later at Hackensack University Medical…