A man who stabbed a 22-year-old to death outside an Anaheim bar after interjecting himself into a confrontation that already was cooling down between two other groups was sentenced Friday, Aug. 2, to 16 years to life in prison.
Armando Urbina, a 28-year-old resident of an unincorporated area near Anaheim, was convicted earlier this year of second-degree murder for the Oct. 30, 2020 killing of Cody Stewart outside of the Las Brisas Mexican food restaurant in the 1700 block of Euclid Street.
According to testimony during the trial, an argument between Stewart and his friends and another group of people broke out after the restaurant closed at 2 a.m. over comments someone made about San Francisco and gay people. After what was described during the trial as trash-talking and posturing, tempers had cooled between the two groups.
Urbina, who had been drinking at the restaurant but up to that point hadn’t interacted with the others, walked up to the members of the two groups and ordered them to leave, according to testimony.
Stewart either pushed or knocked Urbina to the ground, according to testimony, and Urbina got up and fought back, stabbing Stewart multiple times in the process.
Urbina, in a handwritten statement read to the court by his attorney, expressed his “deepest sadness” for the “pain and loss of the Stewart family.”
“What happened was not a result of malice,” Urbina wrote. “I wish I could turn back the clock and simply leave that night before the incident took place.”
Deputy District Attorney Jeff Moore described the killing as “senseless,” “unnecessary” and “avoidable.” The prosecutor argued that Urbina had escalated a situation that had already resolved itself and had baited Stewart into a fight before stabbing him.
“It spun out of control based on the decisions he made,” Moore said of Urbina.
Urbina’s attorney, Cameron Talley, argued that his client acted in self-defense, adding that “sometimes juries get it wrong.
“There are no winners in a case like this,” Talley said. “It is not a zero sum game.”
Orange County Superior Court Judge Richard M. King denied the defense request for probation rather than prison time, asking why Urbina decided to force himself into the confrontation between people he didn’t know.
“It goes down to that moment in the restaurant, where the defendant decided to go and get a knife and go to a situation that didn’t involve him,” King said. “This is a sad case for everyone.”
Related Articles
Robbery of Secret Service agent in Tustin gets man 6 years in prison
3 accused of murdering tourist at Fashion Island enter not guilty pleas
OC bookie who took bets from Ohtani’s interpreter agrees to plead guilty to federal charges
Beware of this parking ticket scam in Alhambra, police say
9/11 families furious over plea deal for terror mastermind on same day Saudi lawsuit before judge