Overview
- The sentence, which was handed down Tuesday, June 30, 2026, gives 35-year-old David Anthony Zapata 24 years to life in California state prison for the 2023 attacks.
- Zapata pleaded no contest on May 6 to second-degree murder in the death of 17-year-old Xavier Chavarin and to attempted murder for the stabbing of Daniel Villalobos.
- Prosecutors say the crimes occurred March 3, 2023, when Xavier, a straight-A senior, was fatally stabbed while waiting for his mother outside a Valley Boulevard restaurant and Villalobos was wounded a few hours later.
- Police arrested Zapata five days after the attacks following an hours-long standoff at his family’s home in Alhambra and he has remained in custody since that arrest.
- The Chavarin family spoke directly to Zapata at sentencing and survivors and neighbors say the case underscored community fear about sudden, unprovoked violence in El Sereno.