Man sentenced for killing woman over swap meet parking space

A man was sentenced Tuesday to 13 years in state prison for killing a woman in a Santa Fe Springs parking lot, according to the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office.

On Aug. 14, 2015, a jury found Reggie Cervantes, a 23-year-old Latino, guilty of one count of voluntary manslaughter for killing Elizabeth Ann Yanez, 43.  

Prosecutors said Yanez drove to the Santa Fe Springs swap meet on Oct. 17, 2014, with her two adult children. As the family was looking for a parking spot, Yanez got into an argument with Cervantes, who was in an SUV. The dispute escalated, and Yanez and Cervantes both got out of their cars. 

"It was a safe place in a public area -- a place where I never thought anything would happen," Daniel Crable, Yanez's son, told The Times a few days after the attack. "And we were even letting the guy have the space."

At some point, Cervantes walked over to Yanez and stabbed her, according to prosecutors. Cervantes then fled.

Crable said he performed CPR on his mother until Whittier police arrived.

"I gave her CPR," the son said. "I do everything a son can do to save his mother."

Yanez was taken to UC Irvine Medical Center, where she was pronounced dead at 10:22 p.m., according to coroner's records. 

The following morning, police arrested Cervantes, and he was charged with murder. 

Contact the Homicide Report. Follow @jeromercampbell and @latimeshomicide on Twitter.