Eleazar Mariscal was sentenced May 19 to 27 years in state prison for fatally stabbing Eduardo Ortega, Jr. in National City in 2016.
Mariscal, 35, of San Diego, was ordered to pay $5,450 for the victim’s funeral expenses by Chula Vista Superior Court Judge Theodore Weathers, who gave him credit for 465 days in jail.
Ortega, 25, was at a 7-Eleven store in National City on April 9, 2016 when an argument arose with Mariscal and co-defendant Enrique Cruz Pompa, 20. Ortega did not know them.
Ortega was stabbed around 11:30 p.m. and he managed to walk to the 200 block of North Highland Avenue before collapsing. He died in an ambulance on the way to a hospital.
Both Mariscal and Pompa were alleged to be gang members and the stabbing was considered gang related, though Ortega was not a member of any gang.
Pompa is believed to have fled to Mexico and a warrant for his arrest is outstanding.
Pompa is described as a Hispanic male, 5’8” tall, 180 pounds, with shoulder length black hair. He was described in a warrant as armed and dangerous.
Mariscal pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter March 13 and a murder charge was dismissed. He has previously been convicted of two robberies.
The sentence equaled 27 years after Weathers imposed consecutive terms for Mariscal having a prior record and gang enhancements in the crime.
In his guilty plea, Mariscal wrote he committed the crime “for the benefit or an association with a criminal street gang with the intent to assist in criminal conduct by gang members.”
Mariscal described his role as “aiding and abetted the unlawful killing of another person with malice aforethought.”
