Man sentenced to 30 years in prison for fatal downtown Spokane stabbing

A judge last week sentenced a 48-year-old to 30 years in prison for fatally stabbing a man two summers ago in downtown Spokane.

A jury in February convicted Steven P. White of second-degree murder after he stabbed 44-year-old Shan Anderson, who was lying on the ground possibly sleeping, more than a dozen times, according to court documents. Prosecutors have said the victim and killer knew each other.

Officers responded in the early morning hours of Aug. 27, 2023, to the South Wall Street railroad viaduct for reports of a dead person, court records show.

Video surveillance from nearby buildings showed White thrusting his hand down toward Anderson in a stabbing motion about 13 times, police wrote in documents. White then left the viaduct, and Anderson could be seen walking behind him with a limp and appearing to hold his side, according to the documents. He then fell to the ground.

Anderson was stabbed an estimated 14 times, according to the Spokane County Medical Examiner’s Office in documents.

Surveillance indicated the attack happened about an hour and a half before the body was reported to police. Police arrested White about one week later near the Spokane Transit Authority Plaza downtown .

Spokane County Superior Court Judge Rachelle Anderson, who sentenced White Thursday, declared a mistrial on White’s first-degree murder charge after the jury could not reach a verdict. Anderson dismissed that charge Thursday at the request of Spokane County Deputy Prosecutor Dale Nagy.

White’s criminal history includes 70 convictions, most of them misdemeanors, according to documents.

Anderson ordered him to serve three years of community custody, or probation, when he’s released from prison.