A 24-year-old Los Angeles man has pleaded no contest to stabbing another man to death in a Rose Bowl parking lot over a dispute that started on social media, authorities said.
Miguel Castaneda entered the plea Tuesday for voluntary manslaughter and was scheduled to be sentenced on March 4, the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office said. He could face up to 12 years in state prison.
His co-defendant, Valentina Rosales of Pasadena, faces a possible four years in prison after pleading no contest to being an accessory after the fact, prosecutors said. Roseles, 25, is to be sentenced the same day.
Castaneda was accused of stabbing Demetrio Tapia Jr. of Pasadena outside the Rose Bowl on Oct. 1, 2018 after they agreed to meet to settle an argument that started on social media days before, police said.
Witnesses saw the two men in a fistfight prior to the stabbing and then saw Tapia fall to the ground, police said. Tapia, 22, died at the scene.
Prosecutors accused Rosales of being present during the fight and then driving Castaneda away after the stabbing, according to the Pasadena Star-News.
It was unclear what the initial dispute was about.
