At Sentencing, Poway Killer Tells Court Cousin He Stabbed to Death Was ‘Good Friend’

A judge on Thursday sentenced a man who fatally stabbed his cousin at a Sabre Springs park to 25 years to life in state prison.

Uriel Cedillo, 25, pleaded guilty to first-degree murder and assault with a deadly weapon in July for the early-morning slaying of his cousin on Jan. 16, 2022.

Both the defendant and Fatima Marin Cedillo were 22-year-old Poway residents at the time of the attack.

At Cedillo’s arraignment two years ago, Deputy District Attorney Vanessa Gerard said the defendant was mad at his cousin because of injuries he’d suffered in a car crash in which she was driving the vehicle.

When the victim arrived at the park, she went to give the defendant a hug, the prosecutor said. But when he reached out to hug her back, Gerard said Cedillo pulled out a knife and stabbed his cousin twice in the head and three times in the torso.

Paramedics took her to a hospital, where doctors pronounced her dead. Cedillo was arrested later that day, according to San Diego police.

At his sentencing hearing, Cedillo’s defense attorney, Emily Rose-Weber, read a letter penned by her client, in which he described his cousin as “a good friend to me” and “nice, kind, funny, cool, caring and a good person.”

Cedillo apologized in his letter and wrote, “There was no reason for me to hurt her. She invited me places and helped me when I was really shy. She deserved for me to be a good friend and she didn’t deserve this. I want to make up for what I did, but I know that I can’t.”