LEWISTON – An 18-year-old Lewiston man was charged with murder Friday for allegedly stabbing another man to death in the victim’s apartment in what police are calling a drug-related attack.

Police were called at about 4:30 a.m. to a Bartlett Street address where they found Richard Lessard, 52, with a severe chest wound in his second-floor apartment. Lessard was taken to Central Maine Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead a short time later.

Sergio Heirston was arrested a few blocks away a short time later and charged with murder. He is being held at the Androscoggin County Jail and is expected to make an initial court appearance next week, possibly Monday.

Investigators believe the attack was likely linked to drugs, said Stephen McCausland, spokesman for the Department of Public Safety.

A neighbor, Amy Belanger, told WCSH-TV that she was awakened by a pounding on the door at Lessard’s apartment, where he lived with his wife and teenage daughter. A minute later, Belanger heard the daughter screaming and went inside the apartment and saw what had happened.

According to a January indictment, Lessard was shot in the leg in November during an altercation at a man’s home in Auburn.

Lessard was treated for the wound, and no charges have been filed in connection with the shooting.