A woman who stabbed a sleeping man in the chest on a trolley in La Jolla was sentenced today to 13 years in state prison.
Angelina Montes Stricklen, 31, pleaded guilty to attempted murder for the Oct. 22, 2023, attack on the 21-year-old victim.
Police say the man was asleep at around 5 p.m. while aboard a trolley stopped at the Nobel Trolley Station.
At Stricklen’s sentencing hearing, Deputy District Attorney Roza Egiazarian said surveillance footage showed that Stricklen first took the man’s cellphone, which went unnoticed because the victim was asleep.
She then pulled out a knife and plunged it into the man’s chest, narrowly missing his heart, according to the prosecutor.
After the stabbing, the man got off the trolley and flagged MTS security for help, according to police.
Law enforcement later circulated photographs of the woman and sought the public’s help in identifying her. Police did not release details regarding Stricklen’s arrest, but county jail records indicate she was booked into custody on Oct. 30.