BOSTON (CBS) – The man charged with Boston’s first homicide of the year is being held on $500,000 cash bail after his arraignment Wednesday on murder charges.

WBZ NewsRadio 1030′s Kim Tunnicliffe reports

Prosecutors say Brian MacDonald, 24, of Boston, and his girlfriend were at a New Year’s Eve Party at the Pratt Street home of Anthony Spaulding, 21, when the two allegedly got into an argument over how noisy the party had become.

A fight broke out around 3 a.m. Tuesday, spilling out onto the street, before prosecutors say MacDonald stabbed Spaulding to death.

MacDonald’s lawyers say he was injured in the fight too, and was just defending himself. His lawyer told the judge the murder charge against him is too harsh.

Spaulding, a New England Institute of Art student, was a musician and aspiring audio producer.

He was taken to Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center where he was pronounced dead.

Tuesday morning’s stabbing was the first of 2013. There were 58 murders in Boston in 2012 and 62 in 2011.