SANTA ANA — A 34-year-old man pleaded guilty Monday for his role in the fatal stabbing of a man who was dating his best friend’s ex-girlfriend and mother of their two daughters.
Adan Zapot-Leyva pleaded guilty to one count of murder and was scheduled to be sentenced Aug. 16.
Co-defendant Humberto Rodriguez-Martinez remains a fugitive.
Zapot-Leyva also pleaded guilty to assault with force likely to produce great bodily injury in a separate case that occurred on June 20, 2021.
Zapot-Leyva admitted to his participation in the killing of 32-year-old Daniel Reyes of Los Angeles on Oct. 18, 2017.
Police were called to Santa Ana and Helena streets regarding a fight in the intersection. When they arrived they saw the stabbed victim and pronounced him dead at the scene, police said.
Investigators believe Rodriguez-Martinez was envious that Reyes was dating Rodriguez-Martinez’s ex-girlfriend, police said. According to testimony in the preliminary hearing of Zapot-Leyva, his best friend Rodriguez-Martinez had two daughters with his ex-girlfriend, who started dating Reyes a few months after her break up with Rodriguez-Martinez.
Adan Zapot-Leyva was of accused of waiting with his friend, Rodriguez-Martinez, for Reyes when he left his girlfriend’s home in Anaheim, police said.
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