A Pacoima man accused of stabbing his friend to death in Canyon Country close to three years ago returned to court on Monday
David Alonso Figueroa, 35, appeared in San Fernando Superior Court and is scheduled to return May 18 for a pretrial conference. Pretrial conferences are used for a variety of reasons, including but not limited to: establishing a timeline for concluding all pretrial activities and possibly setting a tentative trial date at this time, encouraging the settlement of cases, counsel trying to agree on undisputed facts or points of law, and more.
On July 30, 2018, detectives with the Los Angeles County Sheriff Department’s Homicide Bureau began investigating the stabbing death of 29-year-old Brent Hariston, of Canyon Country.
According to investigators, the two men had met in rehab and reconnected after both were discharged.
The two men, according to Homicide Detective John Corina, were scheduled to meet that morning and head to work together. An argument then is believed to have broken out between the two, and that’s when detectives believe Figueroa pulled out a knife and stabbed Hariston multiple times.
The suspect then allegedly fled the scene as deputies were pulling up. The victim’s mother had called the Sheriff’s Department when she first saw the altercation.
Although Hariston was rushed to the hospital, he later died due to the multiple stab wounds to the upper part of his body.
Deputies established a containment in the neighborhood and eventually found and apprehended Figueroa. Deputies were also able to locate the murder weapon at the scene, found only a few houses down from where Hariston lay, Corina said at the time.
