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ST. GEORGE — A 5th District Court jury deliberated less than an hour on Wednesday before finding 23-year-old Victor Manuel Hernandez guilty of murder following a stabbing that left one man dead inside of a mobile home off Dixie Drive in 2018.
The three-day trial, held before District Judge Jeffrey Wilcox, began Monday.
Hernandez was charged with stabbing 23-year-old Luwing Leonard Lopez during an altercation that took place at Red Shadows Mobile Home Park on Dixie Drive on June 22, 2018. The two men, who were friends, got into a conversation that escalated into a heated argument, which is when Hernandez stabbed Lopez multiple times, according to police.
The suspect told several witnesses he "killed someone," according to court records, information that was relayed to authorities. Lopez was found dead in the trailer the following day.
The cause of death was found to be internal bleeding from lacerations to the internal organs caused by blunt force trauma, while the state medical examiner determined the manner of death to be a homicide.
During questioning, Hernandez admitted to investigators that he "intentionally killed the male victim with a knife," which was later recovered from the scene. The suspect was arrested later that same day and booked into jail, where he has remained since his arrest June 23, 2018 on $250,000 bail.
Read the full article at St. George News.
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