Last Defendant Sentenced in SJC Ambush Killing

Cinematic Close Up Footage of a Handcuffed Convict at a Law and Justice Court Trial. Handcuffs on Accused Criminal in Orange Jail Jumpsuit. Law Offender Sentenced to Serve Jail Time.

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SANTA ANA (CNS) - The final defendant in an ambush killing of a man fatally stabbed near Trabuco Creek in San Juan Capistrano was sentenced today to time already served in jail.

Myles Emmanuel Jones, 27, of Laguna Hills, pleaded guilty on Nov. 8, 2019, to voluntary manslaughter in the killing of 38-year-old Alvario Rios. Jones has been in Orange County Jail awaiting trial because he was expected to testify against several co-defendants. But all but one of the defendants took plea deals and were sentenced to prison this week. Ryan Timothy Huebner, 27, pleaded guilty April 30, 2021, to voluntary manslaughter and was sentenced to 11 years in prison killing his former cellmate, 57-year-old Kirk Price, while Price wasawaiting trial on a charge of killing 44-year-old Fahness Lutalo at a mixed martial arts facility in March 2016.

Hyde was sentenced to 25 years to life in prison for the Rios killing, and got 11 years for Price's killing, but the latter sentence will run concurrently with the life term for the Rios murder. As part of the plea deal, prosecutors dropped a sentencing enhancement for lying in wait, which would have mandated a life in prison without the possibility of parole punishment.  Co-defendants Anjelica Marie Shibata, 34, of San Juan Capistrano,

Ashkan Dezhangfard, 28, of San Juan Capistrano, and Siavash Hosseinaliarhani, 25, of Laguna Niguel, pleaded guilty last Thursday to second-degree murder just as attorneys were picking a jury for their trial. Orange County Superior Court Judge Patrick Donahue sentenced Shibata, Dezhangfard and Hosseinaliarhani to 15 years to life in prison. All four were given credit for 2,385 days in custody.

Shibata and Hyde were living together as a couple in San Juan Capistrano, but Shibata was also romantically involved with Rios when the married father was killed, authorities said. When Hyde found out about the infidelity he confronted Shibata, who accused Rios of raping her, authorities said. Prosecutors do not believe the rape claim was true, and some of the defense attorneys were expected to argue at trial that some of the accused expected the confrontation to be a beat down instead of a killing.

Hyde was considered the mastermind behind the plot and suspected of stabbing the victim nearly 30 times, authorities said. Shibata asked Rios to meet her in a remote area near a bike path in San Juan Capistrano in the early morning of July 12, 2016. All of the defendants were there when Rios was attacked and left for dead. A jogger found the body the next day and called the sheriff's department. When Rios' wife found out about the affair, she started posting negative comments about Shibata on Facebook, according to Jones' attorney Doug Myers

Myers alleged that two of the defendants brought knives to the planned beating and attacked the victim, but it is unclear which defendant dealt the fatal wound.


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