SAN DIEGO (KGTV) -- An Imperial Beach man was sentenced Monday morning for fatally stabbing his boyfriend 24 times and dumping his body in a ravine.
David Enrique Meza was sentenced to life in prison. “The Merriam dictionary defines ‘heinous’ as hatefully or shockingly evil, abominable. This murder was shockingly evil – excessively so,” Judge Miller said.
In May of 2017, a jury found Meza guilty of murdering Texas retiree Jake Clyde Merendino.
RELATED: Imperial Beach man held for 'brutal murder' in Mexico
According to evidence presented at trial, Meza and Merendino met online in June of 2013 and were involved in a romantic relationship.
At the same time, Meza was also involved in a relationship with Taylor Marie Langston, a Chula Vista High School graduate who was pregnant with his child at the time of the murder.
Langston was also arrested for the crime.
The murder came two days after Merendino closed escrow on a luxury oceanfront condominium in Rosarito of which Meza was the beneficiary.
Judge Miller, who presided over the trial, said Meza was certainly motivated by greed.
“This life sentence, plus an additional 20 years for obstruction, is a just punishment for a callous, calculated and brutal murder,” stated FBI Special Agent in Charge Eric S. Birnbaum.
