Schenectady woman admits to deadly 2011 stabbing

When Tina Karuzas took the stand at her 2012 manslaughter trial, she testified that she didn’t intend to stab Latoya Ebron — that she was defending herself.

The jury didn’t buy Karuzas’ account, agreeing with the prosecutor that the stabbing was no accident and convicting Karuzas of first-degree manslaughter. Karuzas was then sentenced to 20 years in prison.

On Friday, Karuzas again stood before a judge.

This appearance came after an appeals court overturned her original conviction earlier this month.

In this appearance, Karuzas admitted her guilt under oath. She admitted to intending to seriously injure Ebron Dec. 26, 2011, doing so, and that it caused Ebron’s death.

In return for her guilty plea, Karuzas is to receive a new sentence of 15 years in prison. She also gave up the possibility of any further appeals.

Karuzas, now 31, saw her original first-degree manslaughter conviction overturned over fault found with how a prior harassment case against Karuzas was used at her trial.

Friday’s guilty plea means there will be no retrial and the case is over but for her formal sentencing.

The original jury found that Karuzas stabbed the 26-year-old Ebron during a scuffle inside Karuzas’ apartment at 203 Elm St. on Dec. 26, 2011. The scuffle was spawned by a party thrown by Karuzas with loud music.

Ebron, a mother of two, was stabbed once and died hours later.

Watching Karuzas’ plea from the Schenectady County Courtroom gallery Friday was Ebron’s mother, Tonya Daniels.

Daniels said she was glad to hear Karuzas finally admit what she did.

At the same time, Daniels said, she knows Karuzas’ admission won’t bring her daughter back.

“That’s a good thing,” Daniels said. “But, at the end of the day, my daughter will never come back and she’s got 15 years to sit there and then walk out of jail and see her kids again. My grandkids will never get to see their mother again.”

Daniels said she would rather have had Karuzas away for the original 20 years, but 15 is good enough. “As long as she’s doing time for what she did to my daughter,” Daniels said.

Karuzas’ defense at the original trial centered on two aspects, that she didn’t intend to stab Ebron and that she was defending her apartment from a nontraditional burglary. The original jury rejected both arguments.

Prosecutor William Sanderson has said it was clear from the evidence, witnesses and medical records that the case was not the accident Karuzas portrayed it to be.

Karuzas also had no reason to fear for her safety that night, Sanderson said then. Karuzas was in her own apartment, with her own friends around her and she was larger than Ebron, Sanderson argued.

As part of the plea, no perjury charges will be sought against Karuzas related to her trial testimony.

The appeals court earlier this month focused on how Karuzas’ prior harassment conviction was used by prosecutors. The prior harassment, which related to an alleged dispute with a different woman, was supposed to go toward credibility, the appeals court wrote. Instead, they found it was improperly used to show a propensity to initiate fights.

The appeals court said it could not find that the error was harmless because “defendant’s guilt was not overwhelmingly established by proof presented.”

Sanderson noted that the plea provides closure for Ebron’s family and finality to the case.

“They can go back to living their lives and trying to live as best they can with the loss of their daughter and granddaughter,” Sanderson said.

Karuzas is to be sentenced next month. A timing issue at Karuzas’ original sentencing prevented Daniels from giving a victim’s impact statement, but Daniels said she intends to give one at Karuzas’ sentencing.