An Anaheim man was sentenced this week to 25 years to life in state prison for stabbing to death a man in Tustin after the victim told him he left his wallet at home during an attempted robbery more than four years ago, authorities said.
Miguel Angel Orellana, 23, in September pleaded guilty to first-degree murder and admitted a special allegation that he personally used a knife in the Dec. 9, 2019 killing of 62-year-old David Nakaki, said Greg Risling, Orange County District Attorney’s Office spokesman.
Orellana was sentenced Friday, Feb. 2, according to court records.
Nakaki was out on a walk in the neighborhood along Prosepect Avenue near Irvine Boulevard after returning home from work when Orellana got out of a car and confronted him shortly before 8:50 p.m., Risling said.
Orellana pulled a large kitchen knife and demanded Nakaki’s belongings, Tustin police said in a Friday statement. After seeing Nakaki didn’t have anything of value, Orellana stabbed him and fled in the car, which was being driven by his girlfriend.
Nakaki was found bleeding on the ground and later died at a hospital, police said.
“A man who was simply out for a nighttime walk in his own neighborhood was callously murdered when he said he left his wallet at home,” DA Todd Spitzer said in a statement. “This is as cold-hearted and ruthless as a homicide case can be. Instead of walking away, this defendant decided to take someone’s life and leave a family with a lifetime of grief and mourning because of a reckless act.”
Tustin police initially had only “a blurry image of a vehicle produced from a Ring doorbell camera,” to work with and the case went cold for weeks, police said.
“Detectives walked 14 square miles on foot, contacted 450 people, conducted dozens of interviews, did numerous probation searches, served over a dozen search warrants, and even traveled to Oregon and Arizona,” police said.
The department also set up a dedicated tip line asking the public for information.
Tustin police arrested the couple nearly three weeks after the stabbing after finding the car, a spokesman said.
“This sentencing will never replace the void left by the senseless killing of David, but it does provide hope that justice prevailed,” Tustin police said, adding that help from the community kept the investigation from possibly becoming a cold case.
The co-defendant in the case, Erika Pineda, 29, of Santa Ana, was charged with one count each of conspiracy to commit robbery and accessory after the fact, Risling said. Her next court appearance was scheduled for April 19. She is currently out of custody on bail, according to court records.
Source: Orange County Register
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