A Long Beach man convicted of killing a man with a screwdriver in a case of mistaken identity was sentenced Tuesday to 16 years to life in state prison.
Arturo Ruiz Torres, 34, was convicted Dec. 22 of second-degree murder for Anthony Ramirez’s stabbing death.
Jurors also found true an allegation that a screwdriver was used as a deadly weapon.
Torres wrongly believed that Ramirez — who was riding his bicycle nearby — was the man who had yelled racial slurs at him Nov. 3, 2013, according to trial testimony.
Torres stabbed Ramirez with a screwdriver, then fled the area while the 50-year-old victim died at the scene, according to Deputy District Attorney Lindsay Kurtis.
Torres was arrested six days later by Long Beach police. He has remained in jail since then.
— City News Service