CLARKSVILLE, TN (CLARKSVILLE NOW) – A Springfield man has pleaded guilty in the 2025 fatal stabbing death of a co-worker at a construction site on Old Russellville Pike.
Cristian Noe Moreno-Hernandez, 25, pleaded guilty March 9 to voluntary manslaughter in the death of 27-year-old Ivan Villa Contreras of Guthrie, Kentucky, according to court records.
Hernandez was sentenced to serve 12 years in the Tennessee Department of Correction at 100%, with 315 days of jail credit.
The charges stem from an argument between co-workers that turned deadly on April 29, 2025. At about 9:39 a.m., Clarksville Police responded to a 911 call reporting an assault at 1663 Old Russellville Pike. When officers arrived, they found Contreras with an injury to his chest. He was transported to Tennova Healthcare-Clarksville, where he was pronounced dead.
Hernandez remained at the scene and told officers he was responsible, according to arrest records obtained by Clarksville Now. During a police interview, he said the argument escalated into a physical altercation, during which he used a “folding pocket knife” to stab Contreras in the chest and then in the back as Contreras turned away. A witness at the site told the police he saw the stabbing, corroborating the account.
Hernandez was initially charged with homicide and later indicted by an August 2025 Montgomery County grand jury on second-degree murder before taking a guilty plea for the lesser charge.
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