| For Immediate Release Case # 12CF2591
June 27, 2014 |
Susan Kang Schroeder Chief of Staff Office: 714-347-8408 Cell: 714-292-2718Farrah Emami Spokesperson Office: 714-347-8405 Cell: 714-323-4486
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MAN SENTENCED TO 22 YEARS IN PRISON FOR ROLE IN STABBING-MURDER OF MAN AFTER ARGUMENT OVER RIDE
SANTA ANA – A man was sentenced today to 22 years in state prison for his role in the stabbing-murder of a man after an argument over a ride. Heriberto Erick Vergara Calvillo, 29, Anaheim, pleaded guilty April 25, 2014, to one felony count of voluntary manslaughter and a prior strike conviction for street terrorism in 2009.
Co-defendant Joseph Robert Suess, 39, Anaheim, was found guilty by a jury March 20, 2014, to one felony count of first degree murder with a sentencing enhancement for the personal use of a deadly weapon. The defendant has prior strike convictions for kidnapping, assault with a deadly weapon, and attempted robbery in 1994, and assault with a deadly weapon in 2002. He was sentenced to 51 years to life in state prison.
At approximately midnight on Aug. 30, 2012, Suess, Calvillo, and 53-year-old Mikel Williams were drinking alcohol and socializing in an alley near Zeyn Street in Anaheim. Suess asked Williams for a ride out of the area but the victim refused.
Suess began arguing with Williams, which escalated into a physical altercation. Suess began to beat Williams by punching and kicking him. Calvillo participated in beating the victim. While the victim was laying on the ground unconscious, Suess robbed the victim of $200, grabbed a knife from Williams, and murdered the victim by stabbing him three times in the thigh.
Both defendants fled the scene. Suess was arrested later that morning by the Anaheim Police Department (APD), who investigated this case, and Calvillo was arrested by APD two days later.
Senior Deputy District Attorney Larry Yellin of the Homicide Unit prosecuted this case.