Crime & Safety
Beverly Hills Man, 19, Pleads Not Guilty To Murder In Deadly Alley Stabbing
The 19-year-old told police he acted in self-defense after the deadly alley confrontation.
LOS ANGELES, CA — A 19-year-old man pleaded not guilty Thursday to a murder charge stemming from the stabbing of a man in Beverly Hills.
Conoray Lawantara of Beverly Hills was arrested for allegedly stabbing the man Sunday night in an alley in the 400 block of North Palm Drive, near Beverly Boulevard, according to the Beverly Hills Police Department.
Officers found a man, later identified by the Los Angeles County medical examiner's office as Vanik Voskanyan, 40, suffering from a neck wound and rendered aid before he was taken to a hospital, where he was later pronounced dead, police said.
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Lawantara was also taken to a hospital and was booked Wednesday at the Beverly Hills Police Department, police said.
He was charged Wednesday with the killing.
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Lawantara's bail was set at just over $2 million, and he surrendered his passport and was ordered to undergo GPS monitoring if a bond is posted, according to the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office.
Brigette Barbie, who witnessed the aftermath of the incident, told the Los Angeles Times that she believed the victim was homeless.
In a video recorded by Barbie and published by The Times, Lawantara sat with bloody hands handcuffed behind his back as officers performed CPR on a man who is on the ground in a pool of blood.
Lawantara told police that he acted in self-defense.
"I didn't reach for him first, he reached for me, his hand went to my leg," Lawantara said in the video.
Lawantara also said in the video that the man continued going after him after he pulled out the knife and that he was suffering from a stab wound and a bitten finger. Lawantara can also be heard telling officers that he produced a 3.9-inch knife, and that the knife was lying on the ground.
Police said the incident is believed to have been isolated and no one else was involved.
Anyone with information about the stabbing was urged to call Beverly Hills Police Department detectives at 310-285-2125.
City News Service
