LOWELL, Mass. (AP) - A Massachusetts woman who fatally stabbed her cousin in the heart during a drug and alcohol-fueled argument has been sentenced to up to 10 years in prison.
Laqwanda Villaronga, 27, of Ayer was sentenced on Monday after pleading guilty last week to charges including manslaughter in the September 2018 death of Jonathan Merritt, according to a statement from the Middlesex district attorney.
Merritt, 26, had stayed at Villaronga’s apartment to watch her children overnight, prosecutors said during a previous court appearance.
While the children were at school, the cousins were doing drugs and drinking when they began to argue, prosecutors said.
Villaronga told police that Merritt began “poking” and “taunting” her during the argument. She grabbed an 8- to 10-inch kitchen knife and stabbed Merritt in the heart, authorities said.
She then called 911. Merritt was taken to a hospital where he later died.
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