Fiancé says man beaten to death was accused of stealing items he never had

CHERRYVILLE, N.C. — The fiancée of a Gaston County man said he was killed during an argument he couldn’t win. Now, the suspected killer is locked up under a $10 million bond.

Michele Robles said Daniel Knighten was accused of stealing something he never had and was beaten to death for it.

“Daniel deserved to live,” Robles said.

When she spoke with Channel 9′s Ken Lemon, Robles held tight to her fiancé's pictures and the memories of their life together.

“I’m never going to hear his laugh, his smile,” she said.

Robles has a picture that shows how Daniel Knighten loved to kid around. But she said on Sunday of last week, that smile crossed a frustrated Howell Sisk.

Sisk visited their home on Putnam Street in Cherryville and claimed someone stole items from his home. Robles wasn’t there but said witnesses told her the threat Sisk made.

“He was going to teach whoever had been in his bag a lesson,” she said.

She said he was convinced that Knighten took the things. She said Knighten emptied his bag to show he didn’t have anything of Sisk’s and he refused to fight back, even as Sisk kicked him and landed a punch that sent Knighten flying off the front porch.

“Daniel came off of the steps and went straight back to the pavement down there. Never touched the four steps that are here,” Robles said.

Knighten had a severe brain injury and fought for his life for two days.

“I held his hand,” Robles said. “I said, ‘Daniel, please show us that you have some kind of life left in you.’”

She said he squeezed her pinky and died moments later.

“It’s not fair,” she said.

Robles said the $10 million bond for Howell Sisk is comforting, but she wants to see the second-degree murder charge changed to first-degree.

Lemon learned it’s extremely hard to find a bondsman who will sign off on even a $1 million bond.

(WATCH BELOW: ‘Everything’s quiet’: Neighbors thankful after Cherryville police shut down crime-ridden home)

'Everything's quiet': Neighbors thankful after Cherryville police shut down crime-ridden home

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