Last Defendant in Stabbing Sentenced

A 21-year-old Ventura man Tuesday became the fifth and last defendant sentenced in connection with the fatal stabbing of a teen-ager during last year’s Fiesta Days celebration in Santa Barbara.

Ricardo Cervantes received a four-year sentence for the slaying of 16-year-old Robert Mitchum in August, 1992. But his attorney said Cervantes will probably serve only about six more months after he receives credit for time served since his arrest.

Police said Cervantes, two other adults and a pair of juveniles--all from Ventura--attacked Mitchum as he walked with his 14-year-old brother and another youth on State Street on the crowded opening night of Fiesta Days.

After exchanging gang slogans, the suspects knocked Mitchum to the ground, punched him and stabbed him five times, inflicting one fatal chest wound and four superficial wounds, authorities said.

Cervantes was sentenced to three years for one count of assault with intent to commit bodily harm and one year for associating with a gang. Attorney James Crowder said Cervantes had friends who were gang members but was not in a gang himself.

Benjamin Huerta, 18 at the time of the killing, received five years in state prison for his role in the slaying, and Gregory Dominguez, then 19, got 15 years to life.

The two juveniles were sentenced in December to the California Youth Authority.