Jun 25, 2009 10:50 pm US/Pacific
Oakland Man Guilty Of Stabbing Girlfriend To Death
OAKLAND (BCN) ―
An Oakland man was convicted Thursday of second-degree murder for stabbing his girlfriend 75 times after she tried to break up with him.
In addition to being convicted for the death of 29-year-old Akiba Finister of Hayward on Sept. 26, 2006, David Knight, 49, was convicted of attempted voluntary manslaughter for stabbing a friend of hers six times a short time later.
Knight, who was wearing a black suit and looked straight ahead with no visible emotion when the verdicts against him were read today, is scheduled to return to Alameda County Superior Court on Monday for a hearing aimed at confirming that he has six prior felony convictions, including a 1991 voluntary manslaughter conviction for robbing and fatally shooting a man.
Prosecutor Jill Nerone said if Knight's prior convictions are upheld he will face 37 years to life in state prison when he's sentenced by Judge Trina Thompson at a later date.
Knight admitted during his trial that he was with Finister the night she was killed but tried to downplay his responsibility by claiming that he was under the influence of cocaine and didn't remember stabbing her 75 times, Nerone said.
However, jurors, who deliberated for only a day, didn't believe Knight, she said.
Robert Burrell, 46, who was the other victim in the incident, described Finister as his "god sister" and said she had been staying with him for several weeks at his apartment in the 6900 block of Fresno Avenue in Oakland while she tried to break up with Knight.
Burrell said Finister told him that Knight had hit her the previous week during an argument at Knight's mother's house.
He said that on Sept. 26, 2006, he had gone to the store to buy something and when he came back Finister "was dead in my bed."
Displaying his scars in the hallway outside Thompson's courtroom, Burrell said Knight then stabbed him in his upper chest area below his neck, in both arms and in his stomach.
Burrell was released from the hospital the day after the incident, but he said, "I suffered for a year" because he feared for his safety since Knight remained at large until he finally was arrested on Aug. 17, 2007, at a relative's apartment in Bakersfield.
Burrell also alleged that one of Knight's relatives threatened his life last year.
Burrell said he grew up with Knight but he's "glad" Knight was convicted.
Knight's attorney, Walter Pyle, said he's "disappointed" that Knight was convicted of second-degree murder, as he had asked jurors to convict him of the lesser charge of manslaughter.
"I thought that we had some difficult facts to work with but I thought the facts fit the definition of manslaughter, not murder," Pyle said.
Pyle said he also asked the jury to convict Knight of the lesser charge of assault with a deadly weapon for the stabbing of Burrell, not attempted voluntary manslaughter.
However, he said "the jury has spoken."
Finister is survived by four sisters, a brother, her mother and a 14-year-old daughter and a 6-year-old son.
Three of her sisters were present for the verdicts Thursday, as was her niece.
They said Finister's children are being raised by her mother.
(© CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Bay City News contributed to this report.)
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