A Simi Valley man has been sentenced to 39 years and four months to life in prison for stabbing his father to death during a family confrontation in California.
Gerardo Arroyo Almanza, 37, was sentenced in Ventura County after pleading guilty to second-degree murder, three counts of making criminal threats against relatives, a prior strike offence and a weapon allegation.
The attack took place on 6 April 2024, after several members of Almanza’s family travelled to his home near East Pinecrest Street and North Justin Avenue to check on his welfare.
Prosecutors said the relatives had parked across the road when Almanza emerged from the house carrying a knife and threatened to kill them. He chased his mother and father around a parked car before pinning his father, Alfredo Arroyo Sancen, to the ground and stabbing him repeatedly.
An EMT-trained neighbour treated Sancen at the scene before he was taken to Los Robles Regional Medical Centre, where he later died from his injuries. Almanza fled but was found hiding a block away and arrested by responding officers.
The court heard that Almanza was initially deemed incompetent to stand trial by a court-appointed mental health expert in March 2025. A later assessment found him competent to proceed in October that year.
Family members gave victim impact statements during the sentencing proceedings. Jose Iglesias-Arroyo, who described Sancen as his grandfather, told the court: “To me this is not just a case or a headline, this is my grandfather, this is my family.”
The sentence was announced by the Ventura County District Attorney’s Office.
