AYER, MASS. (WHDH) - An Ayer woman will serve eight to 10 years in prison after pleading guilty to manslaughter in a 2018 stabbing death Friday, the Middlesex District Attorney’s Office said.
Laqwanda Villaronga, 27, pled guilty in Lowell Superior Court to charges of voluntary manslaughter and assault with a dangerous weapon in connection with the Sept. 28, 2018 stabbing of Jonathan Merritt, 24 of Ayer. Villaronga and Merritt, who are cousins, were arguing when Villaronga stabbed Merritt in the chest with a kitchen knife.
Villaronga was sentenced to eight to 10 years in state prison and five years’ probation with the condition that she wear a GPS monitoring device, attend anger management, not consume any drugs, submit to random screens, undergo a mental health evaluation, attend parenting class, maintain or actively seek employment or an educational program and serve 100 hours of community service to start within two weeks of her release to be suspended if she obtains a job or equivalent educational program.
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