CALIFORNIA—The Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office announced on July 1 that David Anthony Zapata, 35, of Alhambra, was sentenced to 24 years to life in a California state prison.
On May 6, he pleaded no contest to one count of murder in the death of Xavier Chavarin and one count of attempted murder of Daniel Villalobos, 36. Zapata’s sentence includes a consecutive nine-year term for attempted murder.
Chavarin was a 17-year-old honor student at Woodrow Wilson High School. On March 3, 2023, he went to a restaurant in the 4500 block of Valley Boulevard in El Sereno to meet his mother. While waiting outside the restaurant, he was approached by the defendant, who stabbed him in the back several times with a knife, who later died from his injuries.
Zapata fled the scene in his sports utility vehicle. He arrived at a parking lot in the 5400 block of Valley Boulevard, where he encountered his second victim, Villalobos, and stabbed him several times before fleeing. After the assault was reported, Villalobos was taken to a local hospital, where he was treated for his injuries.
Five days later, officers from the Los Angeles Police Department arrived at Zapata’s home, where a standoff lasted for several hours before he was arrested.
The LAPD’s Robbery Homicide Division oversaw the investigation, and the sentencing hearing was held on June 30 in Department 100 at the Foltz Criminal Justice Center.
