A neighbor followed him. The jury convicted him. Now he faces decades behind bars.
A man was sentenced Tuesday, June 16, to in state prison for stabbing his stepfather to death in Lawndale, authorities said.
Robert Schneider, 59, of Van Nuys was sentenced to 56 years to life in prison for the 2018 fatal stabbing of his stepfather, Steven Waite, in Lawndale. A neighbor witnessed the attack and followed Schneider to deputies.
A man was sentenced Tuesday, June 16, to in state prison for stabbing his stepfather to death in Lawndale, authorities said.
Robert Schneider, 59, was convicted by a jury in March of first-degree murder for the slaying of Steven Waite, 74, court records show.
The killing took place on July 4, 2018, outside Waite's home in the 4000 block of West 159th Street near Prairie Avenue, according to the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office.
A neighbor who lived across the street was walking out with his trash cans when he saw Schneider with a "black Rambo-style" knife stab Waite then walk away, prosecutors said in a trial brief submitted before the March trial.
The neighbor followed Schneider after telling his wife to call 911.
"Someone is dying in the driveway!"
Two other neighbors told deputies they heard that yell followed by a man's voice yelling, "I'm going to kill you, (expletive)!" according to the trial brief.
Los Angeles County sheriff's deputies arrived to find Waite with stab wounds lying in his driveway, authorities said. He was stabbed eight times, with four of those wounds deemed fatal by the medical examiner's office.
The neighbor who followed Schneider flagged down deputies near 159th and Manhattan Beach Boulevard, prosecutors wrote. Deputies noticed Schneider's hands were covered in blood.
Inside a backpack that belonged to Schneider, detectives found a receipt from a Big 5 Sporting Goods store showing the purchase of a fixed-blade knife, prosecutors wrote. Detectives went to the store and found video showing Schneider purchasing the knife about an hour before the attack.
No clear motive for the attack ever surfaced, according to the District Attorney's Office.
Schneider was previously convicted of second-degree robbery in 2017 and was on probation at the time of the murder.
Schneider has been in jail since his 2018 arrest, the Los Angeles Daily News reported. The sentence of 56 years to life means he will not be eligible for parole for more than half a century.
"Robert Schneider, now 59, has been in jail since his 2018 arrest after he fatally stabbed his stepfather, Steven Waite, outside Waite's Lawndale home on the Fourth of July in 2018."
The case underscores the severity of premeditated violence in the region. Schneider bought the weapon shortly before the attack and carried it to the scene, according to court documents.
Waite's family and the community in Lawndale and Van Nuys now have a definitive conclusion to a case that began eight years ago.
This article was generated with AI assistance.