An 18-year-old man accused in a fatal stabbing last month in a parking lot in Monterey Park pleaded not guilty Thursday to a murder charge.
Angel Octavion Garcia of South San Gabriel is charged in the Oct. 14 killing of 35-year-old Edward Mendoza, who called 911 to report that he’d been attacked. He died at County-USC Medical Center.
Soon afterward, a person came forward to police and identified Garcia as the alleged assailant, according to the District Attorney’s Office. Garcia was arrested eight days after the killing.
There are no indications that Garcia and Mendoza knew each other, according to Deputy District Attorney Kenneth Meyer.
Garcia is set to return to court Jan. 9, when a date is scheduled to be set for a hearing to determine if there is enough evidence to require him to stand trial.
If convicted as charged, he faces a maximum life prison sentence.
— City News Service