Indio man gets 11 years prison for deadly stabbing

A 19-year-old Indio resident pleaded guilty Thursday to involuntary manslaughter in the stabbing death of a teenage boy at a house party and was immediately sentenced to 11 years in prison.

In exchange for his plea, prosecutors dropped a murder charge against Damian Leon.

According to witnesses, Leon was seen running from the 81-600 block of De Oro Avenue in Indio, where Ezequiem Munoz, 17, was found suffering from stab wounds around 3:45 a.m. on May 24, 2014.

The stabbing occurred after several people began fighting outside of the party.

While officers were still on the scene, Leon returned to the De Oro Avenue home and was eventually arrested, Indio Police Department spokesman Ben Guitron said. Officers also found the knife that was used in the deadly stabbing at the scene.

Ezequiem Munoz, who lived in Indio, died at John F. Kennedy Memorial Hospital about an hour and a half after being attacked, according to the Riverside County Coroner’s Office.