Men accept plea deals in 2016 fatal stabbing
Primary suspect will be held in a mental institution
HAYWARD >> Two men arrested in connection with a Hayward fatal stabbing — one charged with murder, the other with being an accessory — accepted plea deals, court records show.
Javier Melgoza, 25, pleaded no contest to murder, but prosecutors and defense attorneys agreed he was legally insane when he fatally stabbed 42-yearold Jason Jeffrey Villegas to death in August 2016. Jesse Quinonez, 32, pleaded no contest to being an accessory and was sentenced to time already served, records show.
Melgoza was arrested after three children who witnessed the stabbing identified him. Quinonez — who drove Melgoza away from the scene of the stabbing — eventually told police that he didn't realize Melgoza had a knife and believed he was just hitting Villegas during an argument, authorities said in court records.
At Melgoza's sentencing earlier this year, Erica Ojeda — who identified herself as the mother of Villegas' child — described telling her daughter that her father had been killed.
“I'll never forget her face when she heard me tell her that her daddy went to heaven,” Ojeda said. She later added, “They were best buddies. She adored him just as much as he adored her. She was a daddy's girl. He has already missed many accomplishments and milestones in her life, and he'll never be there for her as a father should be for their daughter.”
Melgoza's attorney, Seth Morris, described the case as a tragic and said his client is “severely mentally ill.” He said Melgoza had been placed in an involuntary psychiatric hold months before the stabbing.
“He was so mentally ill at the time of the incident, that two court-appointed doctors opined that he was not guilty by reason of insanity. Legally, that means that as a result of his mental illness or disorder, he could not, at the time of the incident, distinguish between right from wrong,” Morris said in an email. “The tragic outcome of his mental illness led to the tragic death of someone who did not deserve to die.”
The terms of the deal mean that Melgoza can be held in a mental institution for as long as he would have been incarcerated for second degree murder, which carries a sentence of 15 years to life. He could also be released if doctors agree he is no longer a danger to society.
Villegas was stabbed to death Aug. 14, 2016, on the 900 block of Cottonwood Avenue in Hayward. It was a short distance from his home, according to police.