Man pleads no contest in Fontana High School hammer attack

Photo: Jose Angel Quintero is led into Fontana Superior Court on Dec. 21, 2007.

FONTANA -- A man accused of hitting a Fontana High School classmate in the head with a hammer three years ago pleaded no contest this week to attempted murder.

Jose Angel Quintero, 19, was accused of sneaking into the school's woodshop class on Dec. 11, 2007 and hitting a classmate with a hammer in the back of the head.

Quintero and the victim, both then 17, had reportedly been arguing over a girl before the incident.

Quintero entered the plea Thursday in Fontana Superior Court as part of a plea bargain with prosecutors.

The deal carries a prison sentence of seven years to life, but it must be approved by a judge before Quintero's agreed-upon sentence is imposed. Sentencing is scheduled for April 26.

The morning of the attack, Quintero asked the woodshop teacher what the penalties were for murder, authorities said.

After the victim was hit with the hammer, he fell and hit his head on a table, and his skull was injured in two places, authorities said.

Quintero walked home from school after the incident, but one of his parents brought him back and he confessed to the hammer attack, authorities said.