People v. Lowry CA4/3

FACTS

The incident giving rise to the charges against defendant took place one evening outside a grocery store. Manuel Soquena was about to load his purchases into his truck when the then 17-year-old defendant approached him. Defendant said something which Soquena did not hear and he asked him to repeat it. Soquena understood defendant wanted the keys to his truck. When Soquena did not hand them over, defendant lunged at him and stabbed him with a knife in the abdomen area.

All further statutory references are to the Penal Code, unless otherwise indicated.

2 Soquena took a few steps backward; defendant demanded the keys and lunged at him again. As Soquena stumbled and ran away trying to get to the entrance of the grocery store, defendant ran after him. He caught up to Soquena and stabbed him again. The force of the blow caused Soquena to land on the hood of a nearby vehicle. Defendant stabbed Soquena in the torso then fled. Police officers responding to the scene interviewed multiple witnesses. They also located defendant as he emerged from bushes near the grocery store parking lot. A hat matching the description of one worn by defendant at the time of the…