A woman who stabbed her boyfriend to death at their Spring Valley apartment was sentenced Wednesday to 12 years in state prison.
Anielka Arbizu, 40, was arrested on suspicion of murder in connection with the Aug. 7, 2020, stabbing of Manuel Castro, 41.
Deputies responded at 11:40 p.m. that night to the couple’s apartment on James Circle, where Castro was found stabbed, according to Lt. Thomas Seiver of the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department.
Castro was taken to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead “shortly after arriving,” Seiver said. An autopsy determined the cause of death was a stab wound to the chest, according to the lieutenant.
Arbizu later pleaded guilty to a voluntary manslaughter count, as well as an allegation of using a knife in Castro’s slaying.
Authorities have not disclosed a motive for the killing and Arbizu did not provide one at her sentencing hearing Wednesday afternoon.
In a letter read in court by defense attorney Anthony Parker, Arbizu wrote that she did not remember or know why the killing occurred.
She wrote that members of Castro’s family had contacted her and asked why she killed him.
“I ask myself that question every day,” she wrote.
City News Service contributed to this article.