Rialto teenager to be sentenced in uncle's slaying
By Mike Cruz, Staff Writer
Posted: 02/03/2010 08:03:32 PM PST
A Rialto teenager stabbed his uncle dozens of times with a pair of scissors and a folding knife in September 2006 when an altercation between the pair spun out of control, authorities said.
Just 15 years old at the time, Daniel Cordero said his uncle bit him in the arm during the struggle. The uncle, Robert Eugene "Gene" Cordero, was HIV positive.
Authorities said they found no bite marks on the teen's arm, just a 2-centimeter scratch. The pair had previous run-ins, and the defense said the stabbing was in self-defense.
But jurors didn't agree with the defendant at his trial last month in Fontana Superior Court.
Daniel Cordero was found guilty of voluntary manslaughter, a lesser charge than the second-degree murder that prosecutors had charged him with.
"The jury made a determination based on the information that was placed in front of them," Grover Porter, Cordero's lawyer, said in a phone conversation Wednesday.
Cordero is scheduled to be sentenced Feb. 22.
At trial, the defendant said he blacked out once he was bit and then regained consciousness while seated on top of his uncle, according to prosecutors.
Daniel Cordero then woke a 19-year-old cousin and said he killed his Uncle Gene. The defendant broke down in tears and said he tried to commit suicide. No one initially called 9-1-1.
The cousin called his younger sister, who then called an older sister, who arrived at the Rialto home with another uncle.
Daniel Cordero "started telling everyone that he loved them and saying things like he stabbed his uncle, that he liked stabbing his uncle and that he enjoyed stabbing his uncle," said prosecutor Douglas Schaller in an e-mail.
When asked at trial about the statements, Daniel Cordero said he had blacked out from alcohol. Rialto police were eventually called.
Officers arrived on scene, and the teenager was still talking about stabbing his uncle, authorities said. Daniel Cordero lost consciousness on the way to a hospital, where his stomach was pumped, say prosecutors.
In the one conversation Wednesday, Porter explained why he pursued a self-defense strategy.
"Because I felt the uncle initiated the confrontation and that Daniel was defending himself at the time," Porter said.
The altercation "dealt with something that was very personal between the two of them," the defense lawyer said.
At 144 pounds, the uncle weighed less than half the size of the 320-pound Daniel Cordero and was stabbed or injured 49 times. Most of the wounds were to Gene Cordero's abdomen, with seven to the neck and numerous scratches and cuts to his face.
Gene Cordero used drugs, had a tendency for violence and could be aggressive, according to court testimony. The uncle also tested positive for several controlled substances in post-stabbing toxicology reports.
Porter plans to file a notice of intent to appeal the verdict on behalf of Daniel Cordero.
mike.cruz@inlandnewspapers.com
I was one of the jurors and I am curious to know what they sentenced him to?
i am the cousin of daniel and also the niece of gene, and just let me tell you all who read this that this incident has reuined, seperated and divided my family more then anyone would care to know!! this not only has taken my uncle away but has left everyone with mixed emotions about daniel as well!! just let me ask everyone this: would you trash and disrespect your sons name, reputation, and honor if he were gene, just to try and get your grandson out of jail if he did this?? well my grandparents did this so how do you think that makes me and my family feel?? ONLY GOD KNOWS!!!
I was a worker with daniel, he was a good kid. He should have got a lighter sentence.