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A Sacramento Superior Court judge sentenced a man Friday to 31 years to life in prison for fatally stabbing another man 18 times at a Rancho Cordova light rail station<\/a> in 2023.<\/p>\n Judge Michael Sweet sentenced Roderick Earl Sowells, 60, for the murder of David Marcus Jones, 29, of West Sacramento, the Sacramento County District Attorney\u2019s Office<\/a> said in a news release.<\/p>\n A jury found Sowells guilty in May of second-degree murder with an enhancement for using a deadly weapon. Sowells also had a prior sexual assault conviction that counted as a strike under California\u2019s \u201cthree strikes\u201d law.<\/p>\n On Aug. 12, 2023, Jones and a friend were sitting on a bench at a Sacramento Regional Transit light rail station along Folsom Boulevard in Rancho Cordova.<\/p>\n Sowells got off the Gold Line train and approached the two men. A dispute between Sowells and Jones\u2019 friend escalated, prompting the friend to throw a glass bottle at Sowells, prosecutors said.<\/p>\n The bottle hit Sowells in the head. He then pulled out a sharp object and challenged Jones\u2019 friend to a fight, but the friend walked away, according to the District Attorney\u2019s Office.<\/p>\n Prosecutors said Sowells turned on Jones, stabbing him 18 times. A witness found Jones wounded on the ground and called 911. Jones was taken to a hospital, where he died from his injuries several weeks later.<\/p>\n Related Stories from Sacramento Bee<\/p>\n
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