| For Immediate Release Case # 10CF1711 May 11, 2012 |
Susan Kang Schroeder Chief of Staff Office: 714-347-8408 Cell: 714-292-2718 Farrah Emami
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MAN SENTENCED TO 16 YEARS TO LIFE FOR MURDERING TRANSIENT MAN BY STOMPING ON VICTIM’S HEAD AND HITTING HIM WITH 16-POUND CONCRETE BOULDER
SANTA ANA – A semi-transient Santa Ana man was sentenced today to 16 years to life in state prison for murdering another man by beating him with his fists, stomping on his head, and slamming a 16-pound concrete boulder on the victim’s chest. Jorge Alejandro Lopez, 35, was found guilty by a jury March 12, 2012, of one felony count of second degree murder with a true finding on the sentencing enhancement for the personal use of a deadly weapon.
At the time of the crime, Lopez was semi-transient, but lived occasionally with relatives.
At approximately 11:30 a.m. on July 17, 2010, Lopez walked up to a transient encampment in Santa Ana and punched 36-year-old victim Marco Rojo Nieto in the face without provocation, knocking him to the ground. The defendant kicked and stomped on Nieto’s head as the victim lie defenseless on the ground. Lopez then picked up a 16-pound concrete boulder, raised it over his head, and slammed it into the victim’s chest. The defendant fled the scene.
Witnesses called 911 and the Santa Ana Police and Fire Departments responded to the scene. The Santa Ana Police Department investigated this case. The victim died at the scene due to blunt force trauma. Nieto was married and had a teenage daughter.
Senior Deputy District Attorney Steve McGreevy of the Homicide Unit prosecuted this case.
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