A 47-year-old man pleaded guilty Friday and was sentenced to 22 years in prison for fatally stabbing a transient in Santa Ana.
Sergio Gaytan pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter with a sentencing enhancement for committing another crime while released from custody. As part of the negotiated plea deal with prosecutors, a count of murder was dismissed.
Gaytan pleaded guilty to killing 36-year-old Joany Hernandez on Aug. 9, 2021.
Gaytan has 1,994 days credit behind bars.
Witnesses working nearby called police when they saw Gaytan and Hernandez in an argument that escalated into a fight, police said in testimony at Gaytan’s preliminary hearing.
Police were called at 7:49 p.m. to the brawl along the bike trail at 500 W. Dyer Road. Hernandez had sustained multiple stab wounds and was pronounced dead at the scene, police said.
Gaytan was caught a short time later nearby with Hernandez’s belongings and blood on his clothes, police said.
Gaytan told officers arresting him that someone had raped his 17-year-old daughter, police said.