Westlake Village Man Gets 21 Years for Murder of Art Teacher

A Westlake Village man convicted of fatally shooting a Pasadena art college instructor at a party was sentenced today to 21 years in state prison.

A Van Nuys Superior Court jury convicted Steven Ronald Honma, 56, in 2011 of one count of voluntary manslaughter for the killing of Norman Schureman, 50.

Honma was found not guilty of first-degree and second-degree murder charges.

Honma and the victim were at a Persian New Year’s Eve party on March 20, 2010, when the Honma  got into a fight and was asked to leave.

Prosecutors claimed during the trial that Honma was intoxicated, skipped to his house, changed clothes, and later returned to the party with multiple weapons, ammunition and a serrated knife.

When Honma was asked to leave a second time, a fight ensued. Prosecutors said several party attendees, included Schureman, attempted to disarm Honma. During the strugle, prosecutors claimed Honma produced a second handgun and shot Schureman in the stomach at close range.

Schureman died the next day.

Defense attorney Dmitry Gorin argued that Honma was mentally detached from reality during the party, did not intend to hurt anyone, and that the gun fired accidentally.

Schureman was a relative of the party’s host.  He is survived by his wife and two children.