Moreno pleads guilty to manslaughter
By Dan Thesman on Thursday, March 21st, 2024 in Columbia Basin News More Top Stories
WALLA WALLA – Leslie Moreno, 30, of Waitsburg pleaded guilty to second-degree manslaughter in Walla Walla County Superior Court on Monday. She is accused of fatally stabbing her boyfriend, Marcus Allessio, in December 2018.
Moreno has been in custody awaiting to be retried. Last May, the Washington State Court of Appeals reversed Moreno’s August 2021 conviction after she successfully argued her attorney failed to seek self-defense instructions applicable to first-degree manslaughter.
A sentencing hearing is scheduled for Monday, March 25.
According to court documents, Moreno stabbed Allessio on December 28, 2018, outside a residence they lived together in Waitsburg. A security camera captured the incident which was obtained by the Walla Walla County Sheriff’s Office and used as evidence.
Moreno called 911 and reported she was driving Allessio to the hospital because he had been stabbed. Dispatch convinced Moreno to pull over and wait for help. Allessio had succumbed to a single stab wound to the heart. A kitchen knife was found on the floor of Moreno’s Toyota Highlander.
