Long Beach man pleads not guilty to murder in Cambodia Town stabbing

A Long Beach man pleaded not guilty to one count of murder and two counts of making criminal threats Thursday after authorities accused him of fatally stabbing his children’s mother during a domestic violence attack in April.

Ngounsay Keo, 59, faces a maximum possible sentence of 29 years and eight months to life in state prison if convicted as charged, prosecutors said. The felony complaint also includes an allegation that he used a knife during the fatal attack.

Police were called to the 1200 block of Stanley Avenue at about 1 p.m. April 13 and they found Keo suffering from a self-inflicted stab wound. They found his girlfriend of 23 years and mother of his two children, 40-year-old Karina Duch, dead inside the Cambodia Town apartment.

Keo was uncooperative “and refused officers commands to drop the knife and let them into the residence to check the well being of other possible occupants,” according to a statement from Sgt. Bradley Johnson the next day. Police used less lethal means to subdue the man before entering the apartment.

He is scheduled to retu to Long Beach Superior Court July 28 for a hearing.

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