SANTA ANA — A 30-year-old man was sentenced Friday to 26 years to life in prison for fatally stabbing a Pasadena woman in a Westminster hotel six years ago.

Aryan Vito Smith made an open plea to murder with a sentencing enhancement for using a deadly weapon March 8.

Orange County Superior Court Judge Sheila Hanson ruled Smith committed a first-degree murder after considering more evidence. If she had found it was second-degree murder the punishment would have been 16 years to life.

Smith was arrested in May 2020 and was being held on $1 million bail.

Smith killed 22-year-old Treeanna Nichols on Feb. 5, 2018.

Police were called just before 11 p.m. that day to conduct a welfare check on Nichols and found her dead in a room at the Quality Inn at 6601 Westminster Blvd.

Nichols had been stabbed multiple times, Westminster Police Department Cmdr. Cameron Knauerhaze said when the defendant was arrested.

Nichols was staying alone in the motel and had only been there a short time, Westminster police said in the time following her death. She had friends and acquaintances in the area, police said.

The Register contributed to this story.

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