Zinda

— Defendant Steven Andrew Zinda chased David Valdez into a field and murdered him with an axe. Tragically, a poor decision placed Valdez in the wrong place at the wrong time. After drinking with some friends at a house in Rio Linda, Valdez decided to leave around 2:00 a.m. He was intoxicated and did not make it very far before driving his Honda Passport into a ditch near defendant’s house. Valdez stayed with his vehicle while two friends left in a truck to get some tow chains. Meanwhile, defendant’s house was being burglarized. Defendant stayed the night at a friend’s house, but had reason to believe certain neighborhood gang members wanted to steal from him, so he set his alarm for 3:00 a.m. and stopped by his house to check on it before his early morning work shift. He arrived to find the burglary in progress. One burglar fled to a waiting car and drove away. Defendant went into his house, grabbed an axe from inside, and came back out. He then saw Valdez waiting for his friends on the side of the road. Assuming Valdez was one of the burglars, defendant walked out to him with the axe and yelled: “Did your buddies leave you, man?” Valdez ran. Defendant took this to be an…