Updated March 14, 2018 at 6:01 p.m.
A San Diego County man was sentenced Wednesday to 15 years to life in state prison for the beating death of an 84-year-old family member, who was clubbed to death with a hammer in his Glendale apartment.
James Adrian Sanchez, 26, of El Cajon, pleaded no contest last Oct. 19 to second-degree murder for the Nov. 18, 2013, killing of Ruben Sanchez.
The defendant struck the elder Sanchez multiple times with a hammer in the victim’s apartment, according to testimony. The motive for the killing was unclear, although the defendant had lived at one point with the victim, who was the defendant’s uncle’s grandfather, according to Ricardo Santiago of the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office.
Sanchez was arrested the same day in El Cajon by Glendale police.
Glendale police said they responded to the apartment in the 1800 block of West Glenoaks Boulevard after getting a 911 call from a family member who reported that the elder Sanchez had been assaulted. He was pronounced dead soon after arrival at County-USC Medical Center.
–City News Service