SANTA ANA (CNS) – A 31-year-old man was convicted Tuesday of stabbing two men in apparently unprovoked attacks months apart in Anaheim.
Erik Mejia Ureno was acquitted of two counts each of attempted murder, but was convicted of two felony counts of assault with a deadly weapon. Jurors also found true sentencing enhancements for inflicting great bodily injury on the victims. Jurors rejected sentencing enhancements for attempted premeditated murder, which would have led to a life sentence.
Ureno was scheduled to be sentenced June 28.
“We’re here today because the defendant callously stabbed two completely unsuspecting people in Anaheim and for no apparent reason,” Deputy District Attorney Michael Briante told jurors in his opening statement of the trial.
Ureno stabbed Jose Pena on March 7, 2021, while the victim was taking a walk on a Sunday morning, Briante said. Pena was walking near Vermont Avenue and Harbor Boulevard at about 6:40 a.m. when he could hear someone running behind him, Briante said.