KINGMAN — A Mexican national who critically injured his roommate in north Kingman has pleaded guilty to attempted second-degree murder. The 28-year-old victim was flown to a Las Vegas trauma center in critical condition when he was repeatedly stabbed and clubbed with a hammer on June 16 at a home in the 4700 hundred block of Powell Avenue.
Witnesses told authorities the violence occurred during escalation of a verbal argument. The prosecutor said Trinidad Meza, 23, was angered by the way the victim was talking about him.
“I know I did something wrong,” Meza said, with an interpreter translating his words from Spanish to English. “I can’t express enough how sorry I am for what I did.”
Change of plea hearings typically take about 20 minutes to complete. Meza’s stretched almost two hours.
Meza’s fear and confusion was evident by his many questions and bouts of sobbing. Mohave County Superior Court Judge Derek Carlisle provided breaks for Mesa to regain his composure and to allow the interpreter to read the plea deal to him a second time.
Meza faces a 7-12-year prison term at an October 1 sentencing hearing.
