Las Vegas man gets 13 to 33 years in girlfriend’s death

A 30-year-old Las Vegas man was sentenced Monday to 13 to 33 years in prison for fatally stabbing his girlfriend in January 2009.

A jury convicted Marvin Richard of second-degree murder with use of a deadly weapon in July for Loreal Goodwin's death.

Authorities said Richard stabbed Goodwin after the two argued about infidelities. She died later from her wounds.

Richard, with tears streaming down his face, apologized to Goodwin's family and to the court, saying he lost the only friend he ever really had.

The couple had children together. Their daughter, a toddler, appeared in court with Goodwin's mother, Laura Goodwin.

Laura Goodwin appealed to Judge Ken Cory to show Richard mercy, saying she was a Christian woman and God had put it in her heart to do so.

She asked Richard to use his prison time to better himself. "If there's going to be a change, you have to do it for yourself," Goodwin said.

Cory said Goodwin's statement made his decision difficult. He decided to give Richard a lighter sentence than what prosecutors had requested: 18 years to life in prison.

Richard testified at the trial and claimed the stabbing was self-defense. He said the 20-year-old woman came at him with a kitchen knife. He said he was able to take the knife from her and then stabbed her twice in the neck.

Richard said he was high at the time of the stabbing.

Las Vegas police found Richard in bloody clothes with the knife outside the couple's apartment on Sandhill Road, near Owens Avenue. He initially told authorities several different stories, including that the victim had fallen on the knife and stabbed herself.

Two police officers at the scene asked the victim whether Richard had stabbed her, and she nodded yes, according to court documents.

Contact reporter Francis McCabe at fmccabe@reviewjournal.com or 702-380-1039.