Father sentenced to 16 years to life in stabbing death of 6-year-old son

A father who stabbed his 6-year-old son to death last year was sentenced Aug. 3 to 16 years to life in prison.

Alejandro Sanchez, a 39-year-old Latino, pleaded no contest in June to second-degree murder and using a knife to kill Nathan Sanchez inside a small white trailer behind their home in South L.A. in June 2014.

Sanchez was under the influence of methamphetamine when he killed his son, prosecutors said. Authorities said Sanchez was found standing in his front yard on East 88th Street, speaking incoherently.

Nathan’s body was found on a bed inside a trailer tucked behind a home in the Florence-Firestone neighborhood.

Nathan had been stabbed with a kitchen knife and later died at St. Francis Medical Center.

Sanchez’s sister, Yolanda Sanchez-Santoyo, told The Times last year that she was stunned by the boy's death.

“He was my nephew and I loved him very much,” Sanchez said.

-- Joseph Serna