A judge sentenced 59-year-old Pasadenan Teretha Howard to 16 years in prison for the killing of 44-year-old Katoya King, also of Pasadena, on July 8, 2017.
Howard pleaded no contest to voluntary manslaughter in exchange for the dismissal of a murder charge against her for the killing.
Authorities now say that Howard and King had been fighting about a relationship when Howard pulled out a handgun and shot King one time in the abdomen about 1:30 a.m.
Police responding to a citizen’s call found King suffering from the gunshot wound in the 100 block of West Peoria Street in front of a gate on the southern perimeter of the Lincoln Avenue Post Office facility.
King was able to provide a very limited amount of information before she was transported to a local hospital, where she died.
Howard was arrested and booked at the Pasadena Police jail hours later that same day at 7:33 p.m.
She has remained behind bars in lieu of $2 million bail until today’s sentencing.
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