A Redondo Beach man was sentenced Tuesday to 16 years to life in prison for the stabbing death of his live-in girlfriend, a onetime Los Angeles police officer who became an attorney and reality TV personality.
Robert Brian Reagan, 53, was convicted of second-degree murder for the July 22, 2015, killing of Loredana Nesci. Reagan, who had been free on bail, was taken into custody after the verdict was announced Aug. 25.
Reagan's attorney, Shepard Kopp, argued during the trial that Nesci's death was accidental and occurred after Nesci -- a former police officer trained in the use of deadly weapons -- attacked Reagan with a knife during a domestic dispute. Kopp said Nesci was fatally wounded as the couple struggled over the knife.
Officers were sent to the residence the couple shared on an emergency call from a "distraught" man, later identified as Reagan, and discovered the 47-year-old victim dead inside. Nesci was the star of "Loredana, Esq.," a 2014 reality show on Sundance TV that documented her home life and career as an attorney.
Reagan appeared on the six-episode series, which documented the couple's struggle with mounting bills and arguments over the care of their young son while he was traveling to develop a beverage business. The 5-year-old boy was in the couple's home when Nesci was killed. Nesci became an LAPD officer in 1996, according to her website, and left two years later to attend law school. She opened her own law practice in 2004.
