Man pleads guilty to assault in stabbing death

A Spokane man on Wednesday pleaded guilty to third-degree assault for the July 2003 stabbing death of a woman.

Originally charged with first-degree murder, Steven M. Sigur pleaded guilty to third-degree assault for his role in the stabbing of Teisha McIntyre. A first-degree murder conviction carries a minimum sentencing range of 20 to 26 years. Third-degree assault has a sentencing range of 26 to 29 months.

Records say Sigur and co-defendant Sabrina M. Kendall murdered McIntyre for drugs.

Under the terms of the plea reached between prosecutors and defense attorney Dick Sanger, Sigur would receive an exceptional sentence of 36 months in prison. He already has close to a year’s time served in the Spokane County Jail. Sigur’s formal sentencing will be set before Superior Court Judge Linda Tompkins in October.

Spokane deputy prosecutor Larry Steinmetz told Tompkins at the plea hearing that prosecutors reached a deal because a key witness in the case, Jonathan Newton, died a month after the stabbing of a drug overdose.

Outside the courtroom, Steinmetz said co-defendant Kendall still faces first-degree murder charges for McIntyre’s death. Her trial is scheduled to start in September, Steinmetz said. He declined to comment further about either case pending Kendall’s trial.

McIntyre’s body was found in an apartment at 606 S. Richard Allen Court. Spokane Police detectives found a fingerprint on a beer can inside the apartment where they found McIntyre’s body, according to court records. The print matched those of Sigur’s, records say.

McIntyre sold $450 worth of crack cocaine to Kendall, Sigur and Newton on July 8, court records say. Once the drugs were gone, Kendall attempted to get more crack for free. After her arrest, Kendall told police she jumped on McIntyre’s back and stabbed her in the head. Sigur then jumped on McIntyre’s back and also stabbed her in the head, records say.