An Eastlake man who was convicted of first-degree murder in the stabbing death of his younger brother with a samurai sword was sentenced Monday to 31 years to life in state prison.
Alberto Gonzalez Figueroa Jr., 37, received 25 years to life in prison for the April 2, 2013, murder of his brother, Mario Gonzalez Figueroa, 23, who was stabbed 38 times with the sword and a barbecue fork in the family’s condominium in the 2700 block of Lakeridge Circle in Chula Vista.
Chula Vista Superior Court Judge Theodore Weathers added one year for the use of a deadly weapon and four years consecutively for a separate stabbing of an inmate with a homemade shank on July 10, the 99th day Figueroa had been in jail.
Additionally, Weathers added one more year due to Figueroa having a prior conviction for which he was sent to prison.
A nine man, three woman jury found him guilty Feb. 9 of murder and with inflicting torture upon his brother after deliberating six hours.
A sister of both men attended the sentencing but she did not want to speak. Minerva Figueroa, the mother of both men, did not attend the sentencing and told a probation officer she preferred to remember her younger son’s life fondly and not his tragic death.
Alberto Figueroa declined to make a statement in court or to be interviewed by the probation department.
Weathers ordered Figueroa, who was dressed in a green jail uniform, to pay $7,065 to the crime victim’s fund for funeral and counseling costs plus a $5,364 fine. A percentage of any prison earnings and money placed on his books will go toward the restitution and fine.
Deputy District Attorney Ryan Karkenny asked for the 31 years to life sentence, calling Figueroa’s conduct “violent, disturbing and horrific.”
Weathers gave Figueroa credit for 716 days spent in jail since the inmate assault and 99 days credit in the homicide.
Weathers split up the credits that way because Figueroa could receive no more credits on the 99th day because he stabbed an inmate in jail that day.
The brothers were in conflict over Alberto Figueroa’s drinking, which occasionally resulted in damages to the home and police visits. Alberto Figueroa described his younger brother as “a little enforcer” who went around looking and dumping stray bottles of alcohol his older brother kept hidden in the condominium.
The jury rejected Figueroa’s self-defense claim that his brother attacked him first with the sword and barbecue fork. Figueroa told jurors “we collided” in a hallway that morning; he claimed his younger brother attacked him with the weapons.
Figueroa admitted he “poked” his younger brother with the sword, but kept insisting it was all in self-defense. He acknowledged only getting cut fingers himself. The sword cut through Mario Figueroa’s body on linens on the floor in his bedroom and bent when it penetrated the floor.
The brothers’ elderly grandfather heard Mario Figueroa’s screams around 7:11 a.m. and he tried to call 911, but
Alberto Figueroa took the phone away from him. The grandfather went next door to call 911. Officers arrived at 7:18 a.m. and saw a horrific sight in which the victim was bleeding to death and could not be saved when paramedics arrived.
The brothers’ mother had left for work at 7 a.m. and she testified she noticed Alberto Figueroa peek his head out from under a sheet where he was sleeping in the living room as he noticed her leaving. She thought it was unusual because he usually was a late sleeper.
Alberto Figueroa fled the scene but was arrested several hours later by police.
