SANTA ROSA, Calif. -- The Sonoma County District Attorney's Office said Friday afternoon it will not seek the death penalty against a Santa Rosa man charged with the fatal stabbing of his girlfriend whose body was found in a plastic tub used to store toys in a closet of their home last year.

Deputy District Attorney Tashawn Sanders made the announcement at a scheduled hearing today on a defense request to dismiss the murder complaint against 31-year-old Honorio Pantaleon.

The hearing was continued to Oct. 9, and Pantaleon's trial is scheduled for Oct. 26.

Pantaleon is charged with the first-degree murder of Patricia Barrales, 25, in their apartment on Montecito Avenue in Santa Rosa's Rincon Valley neighborhood on May 10, 2008, and the attempted first-degree murder of Barrales's mother Isabel in her Ukiah home on May 12, 2008.

Prosecutors allege the murder was intentional and involved torture, which made Pantaleon eligible for the death penalty, Sanders said. Barrales was stabbed or cut 68 times.

Pantaleon now faces life in prison without the possibility of parole if convicted, Sanders said.

Pantaleon also is charged with burglary, domestic violence, battery and four counts of child endangerment regarding the couple's two sons. He has pleaded not guilty and not guilty by reason of insanity to all charges.

Sanders said the prosecution made an offer Aug. 31 for Pantaleon to plead guilty to first-degree murder, first-degree attempted murder, two counts of child endangerment and an enhancement alleging use of a firearm in the attempted murder. Pantaleon allegedly struck Barrales's mother in the head with a shotgun.

Deputy Public Defender Jeff Mitchell did not respond to the prosecution's offer by today's deadline and it has now been withdrawn, Sanders said. Mitchell was unavailable for comment Friday.

Santa Rosa police went to Barrales's and Pantaleon's apartment about 7 p.m. on Mother's Day, May 11, 2008, after Barrales's brother asked them to check on her welfare because she had been a victim of domestic violence before, according to Santa Rosa police. Officers checked the apartment and found no signs of foul play, police said.

A few hours later the apartment manager called police after he received a call from Barrales's family members asking him to check the closets in the apartment, police said. Barrales's and Pantaleon's 4-year-old son stated his mother was "locked in the closet," according to police.

Police discovered Barrales's body in a 30-gallon plastic storage tub in a closet. A knife was still protruding from her skull, according to testimony at Pantaleon's preliminary hearing in October.

On May 12, Pantaleon went to Isabel Barrales's Ukiah home and tried to shoot her but the gun did not fire, Isabel Barrales testified at the hearing.

When she tried to grab the gun, Pantaleon grabbed it, struck her in the head and fled, Isabel Barrales said. The Mendocino County Sheriff's Department arrested Pantaleon later that day.

At the preliminary hearing, Santa Rosa police investigator Hector Deleon testified Pantaleon told him in interviews he thought Patricia Barrales and her mother wanted to kill him, and he resented Isabel interfering with his life and the lives of his two children.

Pantaleon also said he thought the Barraleses or a demon had put a snake in his stomach, and that he admitted he smoked methamphetamine because it cleared his mind, Deleon said. He said Pantaleon said he believed his life and his children's lives were in danger.