Jonathan Cardenas, 19, received a sentence of to 16 years to life in prison for the murder of Robbie Reynolds, 18,in a Beach Hill motel room in 2008.
Jonathan Cardenas, 19, received a sentence of to 16 years to life in prison for the murder of Robbie Reynolds, 18,in a Beach Hill motel room in 2008. He and seven other teens had been drinking and smoking pot in the motel when a fight broke out. After another participant, a 14-year-old girl, accused Reynolds, 18, of stealing money from her purse, he hit her. Cardenas and a friend jumped into the fray and stabbed Reynolds once in the side. Reynolds later died from the wound. He turned himself in a few days later and has been in custody ever since.
Reynolds’s parents and sister spoke during the appeal while pictures of him were flashed on the courtroom wall. “No matter how much you worry, you can’t protect your child from the world,” said his mother. His father alluded to Cardenas’s gang membership, though he was not accused of being a member of a gang during the trial.
Cardenas vowed to appeal the ruling, and noted, “I turned myself in, trusting law, and everything got twisted around.” Read more at the Santa Cruz Sentinel.
