A 75-year-old Pasadena man entered a no contest plea last Wednesday for attempting to kill a woman in 2017, the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office announced.
Deputy District Attorney Ryan Erlich said Lance Anthony Semkus entered the plea to one felony count of willful, deliberate and premeditated attempted murder and admitted an allegation of using a knife as a deadly and dangerous weapon.
Sentencing is scheduled on July 13 in Department B of the Los Angeles County Superior Court, Pasadena Branch. Semkus will be sentenced to seven years to life in state prison as a result of the plea.
The defendant attempted to steal a woman’s dog in front of a pet store on Oct. 23, 2017. Later on the same day, Semkus approached another woman and slashed her throat, the prosecutor said. The woman fought him off but suffered severe injuries, the prosecutor added.
Investigators later discovered the defendant allegedly killed his two dogs, the prosecutor said.
Case GA102199 was investigated by the Pasadena Police Department.
