By Neal Putnam
The Star News Correspondent
A jury convicted a street gang member May 8 of second-degree murder in the stabbing death of a man in Chula Vista in 2012. He was also convicted of waving a knife in the face of a 17-year-old girl.
Angel Michael Nunez, 22, who goes by the nickname “Conejo,” will be sentenced June 5 by Chula Vista Superior Court Judge Edward Allard III for the death of Juan Navarro, 22. Nunez remains in jail without bail.
Nunez faces a maximum term of 24 years to life in prison, said Deputy District Attorney Melissa Vasel on Tuesday. He is expected to get 15 years to life for the murder plus nine years consecutively for the assault on the girl and committing those crimes in association with a criminal street gang.
A man who was with Nunez, Alex Flores Rubio, 21, previously pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter and use of a pipe as a weapon in the Sept. 25, 2012 incident.
Rubio, who goes by the nickname of “Reaper,” faces a 22-year sentence on June 25, but Vasel said the sentencing might be moved up.
The incident took place on Sept. 25, 2012 at 4 p.m. when Nunez approached the girl at a bus bench at the intersection of Hilltop Drive and Orange Avenue.
He said “Remember me?” as he waved a butterfly knife in her face and slapped her, according to court records.
Nunez fled in a white vehicle and she contacted her boyfriend to tell him of the incident in which Nunez also made derogatory comments about another gang. Her boyfriend was the brother of Juan Navarro and they met with her.
As the trio was walking near the intersection of Hilltop Dr. and Main Street, Nunez and Rubio got out of the same car and confronted them. Nunez stabbed Navarro in the chest while Rubio used a pipe to assault Navarro’s brother.
Navarro was bleeding heavily from a cut artery and died in a hospital as he was being prepared for surgery, records say. The teen-age girl and other witnesses were relocated for their safety. Rubio also remains in jail without bail.
