BULLHEAD CITY – A Bullhead City man who pleaded guilty in a stabbing fatality was sentenced to prison Thursday, as was mandated in a plea agreement entered in Oct. Antonio Rosales-Torres, 44, is convicted of manslaughter in the May 6, 2023 death of Jose Vizcarra, 23, also of Bullhead City.
Supporters including his wife and children characterized the defendant as a dedicated family man and a loyal and giving friend. And they urged Judge Doug Camacho to exercise leniency in contemplating the 7-12 year range of punishment required under terms of the plea deal.
“I want to express my sadness and regret for the suffering I have caused,” Rosales-Torres said in a prepared statement. It was read into the record because the defendant was unable to do so himself.
Rosales-Torres apologized to the victim’s family, as well as his own.
Vizcarra family members asked for maximum punishment, noting the victim’s four-year-old son suffers, sad and bewildered by the absence of his father.
Rosales-Torres reportedly told Mohave County Sheriff’s deputies that he and Vizcarra argued about Vizcarra allegedly pushing a child earlier in the evening before the encounter escalated into a stabbing in the 1500 block of Camp Mohave Road in Fort Mohave.
Rosales-Torres was located in the back yard with wounds to his side and wrist before he was flown to a Las Vegas hospital where he died.
Judge Camacho imposed the full 12-year prison sentence. He also directed supporters of the victim and defendant families to exit the courtroom and Law and Justice Center minutes apart, and to avoid the conflicts that he said occurred on previous occasions.
Dave Hawkins
