SANTA ANA — In a tragic case, a 34-year-old man has been sentenced to 15 years to life in prison for his involvement in the fatal stabbing of a Los Angeles man in Anaheim. The victim was dating the ex-girlfriend of the defendant’s best friend and mother of their two daughters.
Adan Zapot-Leyva pleaded guilty on July 31 to second-degree murder and received credit for the 2,126 days he had been in custody. Additionally, Zapot-Leyva pleaded guilty to assaulting another inmate while in jail and received a three-year sentence to be served concurrently with his murder sentence.
One of the co-defendants, Humberto Rodriguez-Martinez, is currently a fugitive.
According to Zapot-Leyva’s attorney, Ernest Eady, the two individuals had grown up together in Mexico. Eady stated that Zapot-Leyva was not aware that the plan involved killing the victim, Daniel Reyes, on October 18, 2017. Instead, Zapot-Leyva believed they would simply intimidate Reyes.
Eady further asserted that there was no evidence to suggest that Zapot-Leyva knew Rodriguez-Martinez was armed with a knife.
Police were called to the scene of a fight at the intersection of Santa Ana and Helena streets in Anaheim. Upon arrival, they discovered the victim had been stabbed and was pronounced dead at the scene.
Investigations revealed that Rodriguez-Martinez harbored jealousy towards Reyes due to his relationship with Rodriguez-Martinez’s ex-girlfriend. It was established during the preliminary hearing that Rodriguez-Martinez had two children with his ex-girlfriend, who began dating Reyes shortly after their breakup.
According to the plea agreement, Zapot-Leyva admitted that he and Rodriguez-Martinez surveilled the ex-girlfriend’s home for several hours, knowing that Reyes was present and involved with the ex-girlfriend. Zapot-Leyva deliberately misled the ex-girlfriend when she called to inquire about Rodriguez-Martinez’s whereabouts, falsely stating that they had left the area hours earlier. The purpose of this deception, as outlined in the plea agreement, was to deceive Reyes into thinking it was safe for him to leave the premises and return home.
When Reyes eventually exited the residence, Zapot-Leyva and Rodriguez-Martinez pursued and attacked him. According to court documents, Rodriguez-Martinez proceeded to stab the victim ten times during the assault.
In a heartbreaking plea for his life, Reyes pleaded with his attackers, mentioning his children, “Please don’t… I have children,” as detailed in the plea agreement.
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