BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KGET) — A man was sentenced Thursday after pleading no contest to voluntary manslaughter in connection to a deadly stabbing that occurred over a missing bag.
Joseph Neve, 57, received 12 years and eight months in prison, according to court records. A murder charge was dismissed under the plea agreement reached earlier this month.
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On Aug. 13 of last year, Neve — who was homeless — found and confronted a man and woman he believed had stolen his bag, according to police reports. He said they’d previously stolen from him.
There was an altercation, Neve told police, and the other man, Joshua Alan Hawkins, 41, was stabbed in the chest. Neve said he didn’t remember stabbing him.
Hawkins died and Neve was arrested the same day. A folding knife was found in his right front pocket, and there was blood spatter on his glasses, police said in the filings.