Woman sentenced to 4 years in prison for stabbing two men in Ocean Beach

SAN DIEGO – A woman from Hillcrest who stabbed two men in Ocean Beach after seeing one of them kick another woman was sentenced on March 16 to four years in state prison.

The woman happened by before the incident and began arguing with the two men in front of a restaurant at 5010 Newport Ave. around 1 a.m. on April 13, 2025. One man kicked the woman, and that was all that Jana Nicole Halaska, 30, witnessed.

“That’s not how you treat a lady!” yelled Halaska before stabbing both men in the chest, piercing their lungs.

Neither Gabriel Millan nor Christopher Abrahamsen had seen Halaska before. An ambulance took them both to a hospital.

Later that night, a third stabbing victim showed up at a hospital. It turned out he was a friend of Halaska and was with her that night when the other two men were stabbed. She was not charged with stabbing him, as it may have been accidental, according to court records.

“There are five people who are involved in this incident,” observed San Diego Superior Court Judge Dwayne Moring, who counted them out – the homeless woman who argued with the two men, Halaska and her male friend.

“She did overreact. Words were exchanged,” said her attorney, Pedro Garcia. “We’re not excusing her conduct, but you have to know the context.”

“From someone who has no record, she now has two strikes,” said Garcia.

Halaska spoke and claimed that one man displayed a knife before she stabbed him. The judge immediately asked Deputy District Attorney Savanna Howe if that happened. Howe said no and that the sentencing was the first time that Halaska had claimed one man had a knife.

Howe said a video surveillance camera captured the entire incident, and the one man Halaska said held a knife was actually holding a backpack. “This was unprovoked by either victim,” said Howe.

The prosecutor asked for an 8-year sentence. Halaska pleaded guilty to two counts of assault with a deadly weapon. An attempted murder charge was dismissed.

“I’m so sorry for the young men I hurt. I know there is no excuse for what I did,” said Halaska before breaking down in tears. “I believe in peace. I should not have been out so late.”

“I was very scared. I take responsibility for my actions,” said Halaska. “I would like to become a paralegal. I respect the court.”

Halaska’s mother, Reneta Halaska, with whom she lived in Hillcrest, spoke to the judge, saying, “I love my daughter deeply. I do not excuse her actions.

“My daughter is a good person. She has been traumatized. She suffers from PTSD,” the woman said, adding that she needs treatment and guidance.

Garcia said his client had “suffered violence from traumatic events” earlier in life.

Millan has since moved to Oregon after six days of treatment in the hospital. “I felt pain every time I coughed and would wake up in the night absolutely dreadfully,” he wrote to the judge.

Halaska received jail credits of 370 days and was fined $1,140.

Source – Indonesia News