Man sentenced for fatally stabbing cousin at Sabre Springs park in 2022

A man who fatally stabbed his cousin at a Sabre Springs park was sentenced Thursday to 25 years to life in state prison.

Uriel Cedillo, 25, pleaded guilty to first-degree murder and assault with a deadly weapon for the Jan. 16, 2022, slaying of Fatima Marin Cedillo.

Both the defendant and his cousin were 22-year-old Poway residents at the time of the deadly stabbing, which police said occurred about 2:30 a.m.

At Cedillo's arraignment two years ago, Deputy District Attorney Vanessa Gerard said the defendant was mad at his cousin because of injuries he'd suffered in a car crash weeks earlier, in which she was driving the vehicle.

When the victim arrived at the park, she went to give the defendant a hug, the prosecutor said. But when he reached out to hug her back, Gerard said Cedillo pulled out a knife and stabbed his cousin twice in the head and three times in the torso.

Paramedics took her to a hospital, where she was pronounced dead at 3:45 a.m. Cedillo was arrested just over six hours later at 12500 Oak Knoll Road, according to San Diego police.

At his sentencing hearing, Cedillo's defense attorney, Emily Rose-Weber, read a letter penned by her client, in which he described his cousin as "a good friend to me" and "nice, kind, funny, cool, caring and a good person."

Cedillo apologized in his letter and wrote, "There was no reason for me to hurt her. She invited me places and helped me when I was really shy. She deserved for me to be a good friend and she didn't deserve this. I want to make up for what I did, but I know that I can't."