Jury Convicts Gang Member in Fatal Stabbing at ‘Sweet 16’ Party

The last of six defendants charged in the stabbing death of a 17-year-old boy outside an Encino birthday party was convicted Monday of second-degree murder.

Ari Tomasian, 19, sat expressionless as the jury’s verdict was read in the courtroom of Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Tricia Ann Bigelow.

Tomasian then glanced back briefly at his family. His mother, Seta Thomas, covered her mouth, her eyes welling with tears.

Tomasian was convicted of stabbing Abtin Tangestanifar of Tarzana in May 1998 as the youth came out of a “Sweet 16” party at a house in an affluent neighborhood.

“I feel relaxed,” said the victim’s mother, Parvin, wiping away tears. “And now I know my son is going to rest in peace.”

Deputy Dist. Atty. Darrell Mavis called the verdict “a just result.”

During closing arguments, Mavis urged the jury to convict Tomasian of first-degree murder, while Tomasian’s defense attorney, Melvyn Douglas Sacks, argued that his client is guilty of nothing more than assault.

Sacks said he would appeal the verdict but declined further comment.

Tomasian now faces 15 years to life in state prison, Mavis said. A first-degree murder conviction would have brought 25 years to life. Tomasian’s sentencing is scheduled for April 11.

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There had been a dispute at the party, and Tomasian, a member of the Jefrox gang, initiated the attack to show pride in his gang membership, Mavis argued during trial.

Sacks had urged jurors not to act with “prejudice” because his client is a gang member, and during closing arguments angered the judge by repeatedly referring to the Rampart police scandal to suggest how prejudice can lead to mistaken convictions of innocent gang members.

Of the six defendants arrested on suspicion of Tangestanifar’s murder, two were exonerated at a preliminary hearing. Another defendant was convicted of assault in Juvenile Court, and two have pleaded no contest to manslaughter charges.

Several witnesses testified seeing Tomasian beating and kicking Tangestanifar. One witness said he saw something pointy in Tomasian’s hand, and another said a boy told her Tomasian had admitted the killing.

The jury of eight women and four men, who deliberated for about a day and a half, declined to comment after the trial. But their decision was applauded by Tangestanifar’s family. Several members said the verdict could not have arrived at a better time.

“Today is the first day of our [Iranian] new year, and this is the best gift,” said Parvin Tangestanifar, who sat through the nearly monthlong trial with her husband, Khosrow.

“I wish he had gotten first-degree, but I’m happy he’s not out,” Khosrow Tangestanifar said.