A man who allegedly stabbed two Chula Vista residents to death in their home, then fled the state, pleaded not guilty Monday to murder charges in Chula Vista Superior Court.
Steven Cleveland, 44, is accused of killing 57-year-old Abdul Hasan and his girlfriend, 71-year-old Paz Gojar, in their Paseo Carina home in January of last year.
At the time of the slayings, Cleveland was on the run from his home state of Ohio while being investigated for crimes there, according to Deputy District Attorney Jack Yeh. After his arrest, Cleveland was convicted and sentenced in Ohio earlier this year to between 64 and 69 years in prison for multiple counts of rape, according to the West Jefferson Police Department in Ohio.
If convicted of all charges in the California case, which includes special-circumstance allegations of committing multiple murders, he faces either life in prison without the possibility of parole or the death penalty, should prosecutors pursue capital punishment.
While fleeing Ohio, Cleveland made his way to National City, where he met the victims, Yeh said.
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The prosecutor said Hasan was helping Cleveland by giving him odd jobs.
Prosecutors allege that on either Jan. 28 or Jan. 29, 2025, Cleveland killed the victims by stabbing Hasan around 10 times in the head, back, neck and hand, then stabbing Gojar three times. Their bodies were discovered weeks later, according to police.
A suspected motive for the killings was not disclosed.
On Jan. 29, Cleveland went on the run again, fleeing the victims’ home in Hasan’s car, then ditching it for his own car and leaving the state, according to Yeh.
He then fled to a friend’s home in Kentucky and was later arrested in Knoxville, Tenn., the prosecutor said.
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Cleveland remains in custody without bail.
