Loma Rica man pleads not guilty in stabbing

A Loma Rica man pleaded not guilty on Friday to stabbing his aunt's boyfriend during an argument on Fruitland Road.

Gary L. Stephens Jr. was arrested Thursday afternoon after Yuba County sheriff's deputies said he stabbed 56-year-old Marvin Browning in the upper body with a 3-inch folding knife.

Stephens, 23, was visiting his aunt's house around 12:30 p.m. in the 4000 block of Fruitland Road and "began acting aggressively" toward the woman.

It was not clear what sparked the violence, Undersheriff Jerry Read said.

"He became agitated for some reason during a telephone conversation with his mother," Read said.

Browning intervened and the two men began "wrestling." Stephens stabbed Browning once on the left side of Browning's body, the Sheriff's Department said.

Browning's injuries were not life-threatening. An update on his condition was not available Friday.

Read said the knife was taken for evidence.

The Yuba County District Attorney's Office charged Stephens with one felony count of assault with a deadly weapon and a probation violation.

Stephens has been on probation since 2010 when he pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor count of battery. He was placed on three years of formal probation and ordered to attend anger management classes, authorities said.

The following year, Stephens pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor weapons violation. He served 21 days in jail and was ordered to serve three more years on probation, according to court records.

Stephens was arrested again in January on a misdemeanor vandalism charge. That case is pending in Yuba County Superior Court.

Stephens was still in custody on Friday afternoon at the Yuba County Jail on $30,000 bail.

He is due back in court March 6. A preliminary hearing is scheduled March 8.