Homeless man gets 30 years to life in prison for killing another transient in Anaheim

Alvaro Mendoza Sahagun, a 59-year-old homeless man, was sentenced last Friday to 30 years to life in prison for killing another transient in a Salvation Army shelter in Anaheim.

Sahagun was convicted of second-degree murder back on June 21, 2022, for stabbing Marcos Zavala, a 36-year-old, at the shelter at the 1400 block of South Salvation Place, on March 14, 2021.

Sahagun apparently did not react well to the victim and his wife arguing loudly that evening. He asked Zavala to step outside and then fatally stabbed him, according to the OCDA prosecutor.

Sahagun later claimed that Zavala had rushed him, but one witness said he heard Sahagun say that he “just couldn’t take it anymore.”

Other witnesses also said Zavala told Sagahun that “You stabbed me.”

He was given 790 days (just over two years) credit for time behind bars awaiting trial.