POMONA — Trial was underway Wednesday for a Whittier man accused of the fatal stabbing of a West Covina man outside a Halloween party in 2011, officials said.
Andrew Edward Meza, 38, is charged with murder and assault likely to produce great bodily injury for the Nov. 1, 2011, slaying of 26-year-old Nicholas Botiller in the 1000 block of South Meeker Avenue, according to West Covina police and Los Angeles County District Attorney’s officials.
After hearing opening arguments Tuesday, the trial continued Wednesday with the prosecution’s case, Pomona Superior Court officials said.
Botiller died at a hospital shortly after the 2 a.m. stabbing, officials said. He had left the party and was congregating outside with a group of people when allegedly attacked.
The case went unsolved for nearly six months, until West Covina police detectives arrested Meza on suspicion of the killing in May of 2012.
Botiller managed a West Covina oil change business and was studying to become an emergency medical technician, said his mother, Joan Hernandez.
A graduate of St. Paul High School in Santa Fe Springs who enjoyed auto mechanics and off-roading, Botiller was unmarried and had no children.