Man Pleads Guilty to Fatally Stabbing Woman in Parking Ramp

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) _ A man accused of fatally stabbing a woman in a Minneapolis parking ramp during a robbery last summer has pleaded guilty in Hennepin County District Court.

Forty-six-year-old Benjamin Love pleaded guilty Thursday to second-degree unintentional murder and three other counts in the death of 31-year-old Mai Yer Cha.

Prosecutors say Love was trying to rob Cha's group when they returned to their car just before 1 a.m. on July 1. Cha intervened while Love was holding a knife to her friend's throat and was stabbed in the heart.

The plea agreement calls for Love to serve 24 years in prison. Prosecutors say that is more than recommended under state sentencing guidelines but the upward departure is warranted because Love was previously convicted of two violent crimes.