Former Marine gets 3 years for 2015 Glendale choking death
An ex-Marine was sentenced to three years in prison Friday for choking a 31-year-old man to death in a Glendale apartment two years ago.
Jared Kasiewicz received the sentence two years after pleading guilty to voluntary manslaughter for his part in the Sept. 10, 2015, death of John Michael King-Smith. In April, Kasiewicz’s ex-girlfriend Sparkle Soojian was also sentenced to three years in prison for her involvement in King-Smith’s death after pleading guilty to involuntary manslaughter.
The pair originally faced murder charges that were subsequently reduced in return for their guilty pleas, according to the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office.
Court testimony shows King-Smith was an ex-boyfriend of Soojian’s roommate and had showed up unannounced at their apartment in the 200 block of West Windsor Road on the night of Sept. 10.
Soojian soon texted Kasiewicz to come over after an altercation broke out.
When he arrived, the former Marine tackled King-Smith and placed him in a choke hold, according to court testimony. He then bound King-Smith’s wrists to his feet.
According to testimony, Kasiewicz then went to wash off blood he got on himself during the scuffle and told several people at the apartment that he “wasn’t here.”
Soojian, the self-described heiress to an Armenian cracker-bread company, then reported to police that King-Smith had broken into the apartment and that neighbors had detained him.
Officers soon found King-Smith in medical distress. He was transported to a nearby hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
The Los Angeles County medical examiner’s office later concluded King-Smith had died from asphyxia and a compressed neck.
Twitter: @Andy_Truc
