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Porter Ranch man sentenced in girlfriend's 2013 shooting death

A man was sentenced Monday to 25 years to life in state prison for fatally shooting his girlfriend in 2013 near the Porter Ranch house they shared, according to the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office. 

Joseph Defalco, a 45-year-old white man, plead no contest March 2 to one count of second-degree murder of Ann Risa Suggs, 52, and admitted to using a firearm. 

On June 14, 2013, Defalco shot Suggs twice in the head and then shot himself outside their residence in the 19000 block of Kenya Street, the prosecutor said. 

After a standoff with police of over five hours, Defalco was arrested and treated for his injuries, the prosecutor added. 

According to evidence presented at the preliminary hearing, Defalco and Suggs had dated for about 20 years and lived together for more than two years before the killing.

Contact the Homicide Report. Follow @jeromercampbell and @latimeshomicide on Twitter.

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