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SANTA ANA (CNS) - An ex-con was sentenced today to 56 years to life in prison for fatally stabbing a 24-year-old man following a conflict in Santa Ana.
Darrick Patrick Ocegueda, 45, was convicted March 16 of last year of first-degree murder with a sentencing enhancement for the personal use of a deadly weapon.
Ocegueda was on parole when he stabbed Daniel Bahena to death last June 21. He pleaded guilty in June 2018 to assault with a deadly weapon and was sentenced to two years in prison.
Bahena and the defendant had gotten into a dispute outside a CVS drug store and then challenged each other to a fight, Deputy District Attorney Harris Siddiq told jurors in his closing argument of the trial.
``During that fight, the defendant has the upper hand ... he was getting the better of Daniel Bahena, who weighed 80 pounds less than the defendant,'' Siddiq said.
Ocegueda's friend used his skateboard to try to protect Bahena, who with a friend, scurried to get away, Siddiq said.
``They are getting out of there, they have no interest in engaging with the defendant,'' he said.
The defendant dashed over to his SUV and retrieved two knives, the prosecutor said.
``He chased Daniel for over a quarter of a mile into an apartment building complex, and when they arrived at that apartment building, the defendant stabbed Daniel to death,'' Siddiq said.
The knife ``went through (Bahena's) heart, through his ribs and through his lungs,'' he said. ``Then it was retracted and reinserted into his heart. That was done to make sure Daniel was dead.''