Costa Mesa man pleads guilty to manslaughter in 2011 stabbing death
A Costa Mesa man pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter and was sentenced last month to seven years in state prison for killing another man during a 2011 altercation that police believe may have stemmed from their relationships with twin sisters, according to court records.
Alec Jeffrey Henderson, 55, admitted to stabbing Steven Craig DePhillips, 40, in a quiet Costa Mesa neighborhood not far from the Mesa Verde Country Club.
At a preliminary court hearing, police testified that Henderson pulled up in a truck in front of a home on Capri Lane on Aug. 30, 2011.
According to court records, DePhillips reached into the vehicle and punched Henderson four or five times on the face before forcing his way into the truck’s cab, where the struggle continued.
At the hearing, a detective testified that Henderson told investigators he responded by pulling a folding knife from his pocket and stabbing DePhillips.
Henderson fled, and DePhillips died that day in a Santa Ana hospital, according to court records.
Police said the house on Capri Lane was home to two adult twin sisters and their parents.
DePhillips and one of the sisters, Laura Gregory, had a child who also lived there, according to the detective’s testimony.
Henderson previously dated the other sister, Lisa Gregory, the detective said.
DePhillips may have attacked Henderson in the belief that he had become romantically involved with Laura Gregory, according to police testimony.
However, Henderson and Laura Gregory denied they were anything more than friends, police said.
Before DePhillips died, he was able to tell Lisa Gregory that Henderson had stabbed him, and police arrested Henderson early the next morning, according to court records.
He has since been held without bail in Orange County Jail.
Henderson entered his guilty plea May 20 in Orange County Superior Court as part of a negotiated deal with the district attorney’s office. He was sentenced immediately, according to court records.
He was originally charged with murder, but that count was dropped when he admitted to the lesser crime, records show.
Henderson also admitted to a sentencing enhancement of personally using a deadly weapon in the killing.
In a separate case, he pleaded guilty to one count of welfare fraud and was sentenced to two years behind bars, which he’ll serve concurrently with the longer prison term, according to the district attorney’s office.
Twitter: @jeremiahdobruck
