A Lake Elsinore man who killed his cousin by stabbing him more than two dozen times in his Long Beach apartment was sentenced today to 26 years to life in state prison.
Bryant Keith Underwood, 30, was found guilty May 29 of first-degree murder for the April 8, 2014, killing of Ahkeem Johnson.
The 27-year-old victim suffered 28 stab wounds to his neck, back and upper body. He was pronounced dead at the scene of the attack in the 2000 block of Locust Avenue.
Underwood — who was covered in blood — was arrested near the scene by police officers who were responding to a 911 call reporting strange noises coming from the apartment, according to Deputy District Attorney Kelly Kelley.
The prosecution had theorized that the victim was killed because he informed Underwood’s wife that the defendant had an affair with Johnson’s girlfriend in December 2013.
Underwood’s wife initially told police that she had separated from him as a result, Kelley said. But she denied at trial that the disclosure had caused marital problems or that the two had separated, according to the prosecutor.
— City News Service