VISTA (CNS) - A man who fatally beat his cousin in the front yard of an Oceanside home was sentenced Tuesday to 35 years to life in state prison.
Joel Cardona, 38, was convicted last year of second-degree murder for the Aug. 2, 2018, death of 37-year-old Nestor Jurado.
The two got into a fight that morning -- why was unclear -- in front of a home on Arthur Avenue, according to police and prosecutors. Jurado was unconscious by the time officers arrived and medics tried in vain to revive him before pronouncing him dead at the scene.
Cardona' asked that his strike conviction for a 2007 attempted carjacking not be factored into the sentence, but his motion was denied.
He was sentenced to 15 years to life for the second-degree murder conviction and that term was doubled, with an additional five years tacked on, due to Cardona's prior strike conviction.
RELATED COVERAGE:
