Manslaughter Is Plea in Stabbing Death
A Canoga Park man pleaded guilty Friday to voluntary manslaughter in the stabbing death of a former co-worker last year.
Lance Negroni, 29, admitted stabbing Ruben Estupinian, 30, of Canoga Park the night of Aug. 28 on a street near Runnymede Park.
The stabbing was the result of an argument, but police were unable to determine what it was about, said Los Angeles Police Detective Larry Dolley.
Van Nuys Superior Court Judge Alan B. Haber scheduled sentencing March 18.
Negroni had been charged with murder. By admitting to the lesser offense of voluntary manslaughter, he faces a maximum of 12 years in state prison. Deputy Dist. Atty. Robert P. Imerman said he has not decided what sentence he will seek.
The two had been cafeteria workers at a Prudential Insurance office in Woodland Hills, Dolley said. But Negroni was not working there at the time of the slaying, the detective said.
The stabbing occurred in front of a house in the 20300 block of Runnymede Street after Negroni returned to the park and walked down the street with Estupinian, Dolley said.
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