An Alhambra man faces a possible 24-year prison sentence for fatally stabbing a 17-year-old boy waiting for his mother and for trying to kill a man, both in El Sereno, three years ago.
David Anthony Zapata, now 35, took a plea deal in the case.
On May 6, he pleaded no contest to murder for 15 years to life in prison, and no contest to attempted murder for nine years, said Pamela Johnson, a spokeswoman for the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office.
Zapata will be sentenced June 10 at the Clara Shortridge Foltz Criminal Justice Center in Los Angeles.
The first victim, 17-year-old Xavier Chavarin, was a straight-A student and senior at Woodrow Wilson Senior High School in El Sereno.
Chavarin stood in front of King Torta on the 4500 block of Valley Boulevard, waiting for his mother to pick him up just before 4 p.m. on March 3, 2023.
Zapata approached the teen from behind and stabbed him in the back. Chavarin died at the scene.
Five hours after later, Zapata stabbed a 33-year-old man in front of Valley Food Liquor on the 5400 block of Valley. He survived.
Five days later, detectives headed to the 2300 block of Westmont Drive in Alhambra after getting tipped Zapata might be there and arrested him after a two-hour standoff.