Man Pleads Guilty To Manslaughter In Oceanside Stabbing Death

OCEANSIDE, CA — An Oceanside man who stabbed an acquaintance to death earlier this year pleaded guilty Tuesday to a voluntary manslaughter charge.

Under the terms of the plea deal, Ferris Shawn Penson, 29, will be sentenced to seven years in state prison on Dec. 19 for killing 32-year-old Armando Contreras Jr.

In addition to the manslaughter charge, Penson admitted a knife-use allegation.

Patrol officers responding to a report of an apparent assault found Contreras lying on a sidewalk next to his car in the 400 block of Mission Avenue about 4 p.m. on May 19, suffering from a severe injury to his upper body, according to Oceanside police spokesman Tom Bussey.

Before paramedics took him to Palomar Medical Center, Contreras identified Penson as the person who stabbed him, Bussey said. The victim later died while undergoing emergency surgery.

Investigators concluded that Contreras was assaulted on North Clementine Street – the road on which Penson lives – before the victim got away, fleeing in a vehicle. After driving several miles, Contreras pulled over, got out of his car and collapsed, according to police.

Detectives arrested Penson at the Pala Casino two days later.

The nature of the relationship between the suspect and the victim, who alternately lived in Vista and Tijuana, was unclear, Bussey said. No motive was disclosed for the stabbing.

– City News Service