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A 28-year-old man jumped into an argument outside an Anaheim
restaurant that was already settling down, riling it up into a
fistfight that led the defendant to fatally stab his opponent, a
prosecutor told jurors Tuesday.

Armando Andrei Urbina-Martinez is charged with murder with a
sentencing enhancement for the personal use of a deadly weapon.
He is accused of killing 22-year-old Cody Stewart on Oct. 30,
2020, outside the Las Brisas Mexican Restaurant, 1734 S. Euclid
St.

�On Oct. 30, 2020, defendant, Mr. Urbina, involved himself in an
argument that had absolutely nothing to do with him,� Senior
Deputy District Attorney Jeff Moore said. �At the time he
involved himself in that argument that argument was settling
down.�

Urbina-Martinez�s attorney, Cameron Talley, deferred his opening
statement in the trial until later.

�The defendant plunged a knife into his heart and Cody Stewart,
who was 22, was dead,� Moore said.

Stewart and two other friends � Daniel Canales and Zachary
Chavez � went to Harvey�s Sports Bar at 1728 S. Euclid, but the
bar was closed so they went over to the restaurant in the same
shopping center.

�While they were at Las Brisas everyone�s having a good time,�
Moore said.

The three were enjoying the karaoke, food and drinks, he said.

�Those guys had the place rockin�,� Moore said.

When the restaurant closed for the night, the three got into a
dispute in the parking lot at about 2:15 a.m., Moore said.

Either Stewart or someone in his group made an insulting remark
that is derogatory to homosexuals toward someone else in the
parking lot wearing a San Francisco Giants cap, Moore said.

�These two groups start arguing about the comment,� Moore said.
�It was a lot of drunk trash talk, posturing and insults.�

But eventually the dispute �calmed down,� Moore said.

That�s when Urbina-Martinez �interjected himself� into the
conflict, Moore said.

�He comes over and starts telling everyone to leave, kind of
inflaming the situation,� Moore said.

Stewart either knocked down the defendant with a punch or threw
him to the ground, Moore said.

The defendant scrambled to his feet and the two were fist
fighting, Moore said.

�It was a one-on-one fight, but the defendant started fighting
with a knife and Cody�s fighting with his fists,� Moore said.

After Stewart was stabbed multiple times, he and his friends got
in the car they came in and dialed 911 as they attempted to get
Stewart to a hospital, Moore said.

Urbina-Martinez went to work the next morning after stuffing
bloody clothes in a bag, Moore said. The defendant was
questioned by police and arrested, the prosecutor said.

Urbina-Martinez�s former boss at a car body shop, Rebecca
Appleby, testified that when she saw he had a lavender-colored
knife on his desk she asked him why he got it. Urbina-Martinez
said he got it from a tool supplier at work for self-defense
because he was having issues with a man over his girlfriend at a
local bar, Appleby testified.

Urbina-Martinez told police he had an argument with his
girlfriend earlier in the day before the fight with Stewart,
Moore said.

�So he was in kind of a bit of a mood,� Moore said.

Under questioning from Talley, Appleby said she offered advise
to her co-worker.

�I remember telling him to change bars,� she said.

Talley asked her if some of her co-workers used knives to open
boxes, but Appleby said a razor was usually used for that.

Talley also asked if she knew that some knives are useful for
battery chargers and flash lights, but Appleby said she wasn�t
that familiar with knives.

Talley also asked her if she was aware that Urbina-Martinez had
police cadet training, and she said she was not aware of that.

https://mynewsla.com/crime/2024/03/19/trial-begins-for-man- accused-of-fatal-stabbing-in-anaheim/

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