A man was sentenced April 8 to 16 years to life in state prison in the fatal stabbing of a stranger in a Monterey Park parking lot in 2014, according to the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office.
On March 18, a jury found Angel Octavion Garcia guilty of second-degree murder in the death of Edward Gabriel Mendoza, 35.
Prosecutors said that on Oct. 14, 2014, Mendoza called 911 and said he had been assaulted. He succumbed to his injuries while on the phone, prosecutors added.
After the killing, a person told police that Garcia confessed to the stabbing, prosecutors said. Eight days later, police arrested Garcia. At trial, prosecutors said Garcia stabbed Mendoza after being humiliated in a failed drug deal involving another person. The two did not know each other, the prosecutor said.