Burbank Man Sentenced Today
A Burbank man, Stephen Todd Joanou Jr., was sentenced earlier today for a stabbing that occurred earlier this year on March 24. He was found guilty in March for stabbing his estranged girlfriend 19 times. His girlfriend was pronounced dead at the scene of the crime and Stephen Todd Joanou Jr. was taken into custody. He was later found guilty of murder and was sentenced earlier today to 26 years to life in state prison. The trial took place in the Van Nuys Superior Court and the defendant tried to get a new trial to fight the charges. However, the judge of the Van Nuys Superior Gregory Dohi denied the defense's request and continued to sentence the defendant. He also denied the defense's request for a reduced sentence for the defendant. This trial has been going on since 2012, which is when the stabbing occurred and this shows how long a trial could take to finally be complete. The authorities that were called to the stabbing found the body of the defendant's girlfriend in a baseball field next to his house. Both the suspect and the defendant were living in the city of Burbank when this event occurred. The police in charge of the investigation say that the two have been fighting and neighbors told police that they could hear the couple arguing in their home almost everyday. The investigators believe that their fighting had gotten to the point where it got violent a few times and this last fight ended in a fatality. This shows you that fighting over something that seems small and not that severe could end up escalating to the point where someone dies and both lives are ruined due to the ordeal. The trial is over for the Burbank man and now he will have to face the consequences of his actions and possible spend the rest of his life in prison.
