Actor Ricardo Medina, known for his role as Cole Evans, the red Power Ranger, pleaded guilty to fatally stabbing his roommate, the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office announced Thursday.
Prosecutors said Medina, 38, stabbed Joshua Sutter several times in the abdomen with a samurai sword in January 2015 at their house in Green Valley, California, about 60 miles north of downtown Los Angeles.
Sentencing is scheduled for March 30 and Medina will face six years in state prison, Deputy District Attorney Tannaz Mokayef said in a statement.
It took prosecutors nearly a year to bring charges against Medina. The sole witness in the incident is Medina's ex-girlfriend.
At a preliminary hearing in October 2016, she said she couldn't remember much about that night, except that she didn't think the stabbing with the samurai-type sword would be so severe as to lead to Sutter's death. She described the stabbing as "a poke."
Sutter's sister, Rachel Kennedy told NBC4 a different story following Medina’s arrest earlier that year.
"Not only did he stab him, I believe it was overkill," Kennedy said. "The coroner's report shows defense wounds up and down my brother’s hands. He was fighting for his life."
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She alleged Sutter was trying to evict Medina, whom she said had been staying at the house rent free, when an argument ensued.
Medina's attorney, Alan Bell, claimed in court in 2016 that Medina was acting in self-defense and there was only one stab wound. The rest were the result of dog bites and an error on the coroner's part, Bell said.
Also presented in court in 2016 was a protective order against Sutter by his own sister. Medina's attorney claimed it showed Sutter was an aggressor. He said his client and Sutter were in an argument about Medina's girlfriend.
"Damn it, Josh. Why did you do this, man? Why did you make me do this?" Medina can be heard saying in the recording of a 911 call Medina made.
The victim's father Donald Sutter told NBC4 last year that he did not believe the self-defense claim.
"I know what was in his heart, and people with good hearts don't do anything like that," Sutter said of Medina. "The guy's a piece of garbage, and he deserves whatever he gets."
