SAN DIEGO (CNS) - A man who fatally shot his cousin's friend in the courtyard of a City Heights apartment complex was sentenced today to 25 years to life in state prison.
Edgar Sanchez, 34, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder, as well as an allegation of using a gun in the April 23, 2024, killing of Marco Gonzalez,
33.
Police said that in what appeared to be an unprovoked attack, Sanchez shot the victim just before 2:30 a.m., then ran from the scene. Gonzalez died at a hospital.
Sanchez was arrested in the nearby area at around 9 a.m. while detectives were still at the apartment investigating the shooting, police said.
Sanchez's defense attorney, Abbey Noel, wrote in sentencing documents
that her client was ``extremely remorseful'' and that the killing happened
while Sanchez was in a state of ``substance-induced psychosis.''
The attorney wrote that Sanchez did not know Gonzalez or have any sort
of dispute or argument with him prior to the shooting, but she noted
methamphetamine was found in Sanchez's system.
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