Neighbor Found Guilty of Woman’s Murder
A Carson man was found guilty Wednesday of first-degree murder in the savage knife slaying of his pregnant next-door neighbor, Lisa Marie Gonzales. The 20-year-old woman died April 24, 1989, after being stabbed and slashed 42 times during an attempted rape.
Anthony Herrera, 29, sat impassively through the reading of the verdicts in Compton Superior Court and left the courtroom without uttering a word.
Sentencing is set for June 27. Herrera must be sentenced to life in prison without parole because he was found guilty of first-degree murder plus the special circumstance that the slaying occurred during an attempted rape. The district attorney’s office had decided before the trial not to seek the death penalty.
Herrera also faces a possible consecutive sentence of 15 years to life for the death of the fetus.
Public Defender Ary DeGroot said the verdict would be appealed.
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