{"id":18301,"date":"2025-10-22T19:39:11","date_gmt":"2025-10-22T19:39:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/18301\/"},"modified":"2025-10-22T19:39:11","modified_gmt":"2025-10-22T19:39:11","slug":"oakland-man-sentenced-to-life-for-killing-ex-girlfriends-brother-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/18301\/","title":{"rendered":"Oakland man sentenced to life for killing ex-girlfriend’s brother"},"content":{"rendered":"

OAKLAND \u2014 An Oakland man was sentenced to 16 years to life in prison for fatally stabbing his ex-girlfriend\u2019s brother<\/a> after allegedly showing up to the victim\u2019s home, throwing rocks at his window and confronting him outside.<\/p>\n

Adelto Sanchez Medizabal, 59, was convicted at trial of second-degree murder and a knife enhancement in the 2023 stabbing death of Gerardo Abreau. In mid-September, Alameda County Judge Thomas Reardon sentenced Medizabal to 16 years to life, despite pleas from Medizabal\u2019s lawyer to strike the one-year knife enhancement.<\/p>\n

Medizabal was transferred to North Kern State Prison earlier this month, records show.<\/p>\n

Medizabal had a rocky relationship with Abreau\u2019s sister, who took the stand and said he\u2019d been kicked out of her home \u201cbecause all of the quarreling and all of the beatings that he would give me,\u201d according to court records. Prosecutors say Medizabal and Abreau also argued over an outstanding debt and that Medizabal left threatening voicemails and told another eyewitness he would kill Abreau.<\/p>\n

On Nov. 30, 2023, the day on the murder, Medizabal allegedly armed himself with a metal pipe and a knife and went to the home on the 2600 block of 74th Avenue in East Oakland.<\/p>\n

Abreau was able to knock the pipe away but Medizabal stabbed him during a fistfight. He exclaimed, \u201cthat (expletive) stabbed me,\u201d and died later that day at a hospital. An eyewitness who drove Abreau to the hospital told police he noticed Medizabal throwing something down a storm drain right after the stabbing, according to court records.<\/p>\n

Jurors rejected a theory that the stabbing was in self-defense, but also declined to convict Medizabal of premeditated murder, records show.<\/p>\n

Medizabal\u2019s lawyer, Alanna Coopersmith, argued in court filings that Medizabal should receive the legal minimum of 15 years to life, writing that he has been treated for cancer at Santa Rita Jail, expressed \u201cgreat remorse\u201d and will be \u201cold and frail\u201d by the time he gets out of prison, if he ever does.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe tragic killing of Gerardo Abreu, his friend, was committed because of the unusual circumstance of great provocation that is unlikely to reoccur,\u201d Coopersmith wrote in court filings. \u201cMr. Abreu was the initial aggressor or instigator of the fight, or at very least had a role in provoking it.\u201d<\/p>\n

A probation report cites several aggravating factors, like a prior weapons conviction, the history of domestic violence and Medizabal fleeing the area after the stabbing, only to be arrested in Morgan Hill a short time later.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe victim\u2019s family must now endure the lifelong pain and trauma caused by the senseless and preventable loss of their loved one,\u201d the probation report says. \u201cThe emotional impact on the family is immeasurable, and their suffering will continue long after the legal proceedings have concluded.\u201d<\/p>\n

Originally Published: October 22, 2025 at 10:21 AM PDT<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"OAKLAND \u2014 An Oakland man was sentenced to 16 years to life in prison for fatally stabbing his…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":18302,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[861,15372,143,863,15369,145,5061,864,15371,144,15370],"class_list":["post-18301","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-oakland","tag-bay-area-crime","tag-domestic-violence-awareness","tag-oakland","tag-oakland-crime","tag-oakland-domestic-violence","tag-oakland-headlines","tag-oakland-homicide","tag-oakland-murder","tag-oakland-murder-rate","tag-oakland-news","tag-oakland-stabbing"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18301","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18301"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18301\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/18302"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18301"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18301"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18301"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}