The Jury Saw Everything. 20 Stabs. Rape. Domestic Violence. All Counts: Guilty.
At 4:30 a.m. on May 23, 2024, Nick Pasqual, 36 — a small-part television actor known for a 2011 episode of How I Met Your Motherand a role in Netflix’s Rebel Moon — broke into the Sunland home of his estranged girlfriend, Allie Shehorn, a Hollywood makeup artist. He stabbed her more than 20 times: in the throat, the back, the chest, and the wrists. She survived only after 14 hours of emergency surgery.
The attack was not isolated. Shehorn had accused Pasqual of raping and choking her on April 14, 2024 — five weeks before the stabbing — and of hitting her with a belt on January 29, 2024. Pasqual fled after the stabbing, driving toward the Mexican border. He was arrested at a Texas checkpoint.
On May 9, 2026 — nearly two years after the attack — a Los Angeles County jury returned guilty verdicts on every count. Pasqual faces a maximum of life in state prison. Sentencing is set for June 2, 2026 at the San Fernando courthouse.
- 20+stab woundsthroat, back, chest, and wrists — Shehorn survived after 14 hours of emergency surgery · ABC7 LA / Fox News
- 4:30 a.m.time of attackPasqual broke into Shehorn's Sunland, LA home on May 23, 2024 — she was asleep · LA County DA
- 3prior incidentsbelt assault Jan 29, 2024; rape and choking April 14, 2024; break-in stabbing May 23, 2024 · LA County DA
- 4counts — all guiltyattempted murder; first-degree residential burglary (person present); injuring a girlfriend/cohabitant; forcible rape · LA County Superior Court
- Lifemaximum sentencein California state prison. Sentencing June 2, 2026 · LA County DA / Fox News
Allie Shehorn is a Hollywood makeup artist who lived in Sunland, a quiet neighborhood in the northeastern San Fernando Valley, roughly ten miles from downtown Los Angeles. She and Pasqual had been in a romantic relationship; they were estranged by the time of the attack in May 2024. She had already reported two prior incidents of violence to authorities: a belt assault in January and a rape and choking incident in April.
In the early morning hours of May 23, 2024, Pasqual broke into her home and stabbed her more than 20 times before fleeing. Emergency responders transported her to a trauma center. She survived, but required 14 hours of surgery. Her survival made the criminal case possible — and her testimony helped secure convictions on every count the prosecution charged.
According to the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s charging release, Pasqual broke into Shehorn’s Sunland residence at approximately 4:30 a.m. The wound pattern — throat, back, chest, wrists — was documented by the attending surgeons and formed a central part of the prosecution’s case. The great bodily injury enhancement attached to the attempted murder count under domestic violence circumstances was among the special allegations the jury found true.
After the attack, Pasqual did not remain at the scene. He drove south toward the US–Mexico border. He was stopped and arrested at a Texas checkpoint. Fleeing the state after committing a violent felony against an intimate partner is a fact pattern prosecutors frequently use to demonstrate consciousness of guilt — and the jury in this case heard it.
“He stabbed her in the throat, the back, the chest, the wrists. She survived. The jury made sure he answered for it.”
Los Angeles County Superior Court — verdict, May 9, 2026
The May 23 stabbing was the third incident Shehorn reported involving Pasqual in a five-month span. The prior two are part of the conviction record:
Pasqual struck Shehorn with a belt. The incident was reported to authorities. It is among the domestic violence charges on which he was convicted.
Pasqual raped and choked Shehorn. She reported the assault. This is the basis for the forcible rape count — the jury found him guilty on that charge as well.
Pasqual breaks into Shehorn's Sunland home and stabs her 20+ times. He flees toward the border and is arrested at a Texas checkpoint.
A Los Angeles County jury returns guilty verdicts on all four counts and finds the special allegations — great bodily injury under domestic violence circumstances and deadly weapon use — true.
Sentencing scheduled in Los Angeles County Superior Court (San Fernando courthouse). Maximum: life in California state prison.
The Los Angeles County District Attorney charged Pasqual with four counts, each of which the jury found proven beyond a reasonable doubt:
- ›Attempted murder — for the May 23, 2024 stabbing
- ›First-degree residential burglary with a person present — for breaking into Shehorn's home
- ›Injuring a spouse, cohabitant, or girlfriend — the domestic violence count encompassing the pattern of physical abuse
- ›Forcible rape — for the April 14, 2024 assault
The jury also found two special allegations true: great bodily injury under domestic violence circumstances (attached to the attempted murder and domestic violence counts) and personal use of a deadly weapon. Both enhancements increase the sentencing exposure. The combination of the base counts and the enhancements puts the maximum exposure at life in California state prison.
California Penal Code § 12022.7 (great bodily injury) and § 12022(b) (deadly weapon use) are sentence enhancements that run consecutive to the base term. When a jury finds both true in the context of an attempted murder charge, the sentencing judge has authority to impose substantial additional prison time on top of the base sentence.
The domestic violence circumstance finding under § 12022.7(e) further elevates the mandatory minimum for the enhancement. Combined with a guilty verdict on attempted murder, the statutory pathway to a life sentence is clear. Judge discretion at the June 2 hearing will determine the precise term.
Pasqual, 36, had minor credits in Hollywood television and film. He appeared in a 2011 episode of How I Met Your Motheron CBS and had a role in Netflix’s Rebel Moon, Zack Snyder’s 2023 science fiction film. Neither credit translated to a significant Hollywood profile; he worked as a working actor in a city full of them. That background drew media attention to the case when the attack was first reported in 2024 and again when the verdict came in on May 9, 2026.
The actor framing is not what made this case significant. What made it significant was the sustained pattern of violence — three documented incidents across five months, escalating from a belt assault to rape to a near-fatal stabbing — and the fact that the jury saw all of it and returned guilty verdicts on every count. The question in domestic violence cases is often whether juries will credit a victim’s account of a pattern rather than treating each incident in isolation. In this courtroom, they did.
District Attorney: Nathan Hochman (R) — elected November 2024, took office December 2024. Hochman defeated incumbent DA George Gascón in a campaign focused on public safety and prosecutorial accountability. The Pasqual prosecution was charged under the prior Gascón administration and tried under Hochman’s office.
Prior DA: George Gascón (D) — served 2020–2024. Gascón’s office initially charged Pasqual following the May 2024 stabbing and the prior April rape allegation. Gascón was defeated in his November 2024 reelection bid in part over criticism of his office’s handling of violent crime cases.
Trial court: Los Angeles County Superior Court, San Fernando courthouse. Verdict returned May 9, 2026. Sentencing set for June 2, 2026.
Domestic violence prosecutions are notoriously difficult. Victims recant. Witnesses disappear. Juries sometimes isolate individual incidents and find reasonable doubt. What happened in the Pasqual case is the opposite: the jury credited three separate incidents spanning five months and returned guilty verdicts on all four counts.
The great bodily injury enhancement under domestic violence circumstances — which the jury also found true — is not a minor procedural detail. It is the statutory recognition that the violence was part of a pattern of intimate partner abuse, not a single explosive event. California law treats that pattern as an aggravating circumstance precisely because the research on domestic violence homicide shows that escalating patterns predict lethal outcomes. Allie Shehorn came close.
“She survived 14 hours of surgery. The jury made sure it wasn't for nothing.”
Los Angeles County Superior Court — verdict returned May 9, 2026
Nick Pasqual beat a woman with a belt. Raped and choked her five weeks later. Broke into her home at 4:30 in the morning and stabbed her more than 20 times. She survived. He fled for the border. A Los Angeles County jury saw all of it — and on May 9, 2026, returned guilty verdicts on every single count the prosecution charged. He faces life in prison. Sentencing is June 2. The jury did its job.