A man who struck another man in the head with a mallet at a Rolando-area apartment complex, leading to the victim’s death nearly four years later, was sentenced Thursday to 31 years to life in state prison.
Manuel Lopez, 44, was convicted of second-degree murder and a deadly weapon allegation for hitting Allen Stokes in the head on March 12, 2016, at the El Cajon Boulevard residential complex where Stokes and Lopez both lived.
Stokes remained hospitalized in a conscious, but unresponsive state until his death on Nov. 8, 2019, when he was 72 years old. Lopez was arrested for Stokes’ murder on Sept. 3, 2020.
Prosecutors argued Stokes’ death was ultimately caused by the injuries inflicted in the 2016 attack.
At Lopez’s sentencing hearing, Deputy District Attorney Mary Naoom said Lopez had a history of similar attacks on strangers and that additional prison time was warranted for a prior conviction Lopez received for beating a man in a restaurant bathroom in 2009.
She also argued Lopez had not shown remorse for Stokes’ death and after the attack, “For three years and eight months, he left and he continued about his life as if this didn’t happen.”
Defense attorney Kara Oien asked San Diego Superior Court Judge Peter Deddeh for a 16-year-to-life sentence, which would mean not imposing extra time for Lopez’s prior convictions.
She noted that Lopez, a former U.S. Marine, suffered from mental health issues, which led to his honorable discharge from the Marine Corps and multiple hospital stays over the years to treat his psychiatric issues.
Oien also presented the judge with evidence of extensive support from Lopez’s friends and family, and said he has spent years volunteering for organizations supporting veterans, the homeless and victims of domestic violence.
Deddeh said he understood that Lopez “has the capacity to be helpful and friendly and loving, but he also has this other side of him that is violent.”
The judge said there was no evidence that the victim provoked the attack or that he was killed in self-defense.
Along with Lopez’s “pattern of violent behavior,” Deddeh said he also considered the final years of the victim’s life, in which he “suffered mightily” while hospitalized for his injuries.
–City News Service
