18-year-old Travis Arnold will spend the next six years in jail for killing Jason Encalada two years ago. A jury convicted the high school student on April 18th of manslaughter and today he was sentenced.
Encalada was stabbed to death on May 3rd of 2004 in a yard in the Mile 8 community. The fight started after Encalada reportedly threw a mango skin at Arnold. That led to harsh words, then fists, and finally a knife. Encalada received a fatal stab to the chest.
In court the principal of St. Michael's College Dalia Rivero, social worker Nestra Lino, and Arnold's mother Eldora Arnold all asked justice Adolph Lucas for leniency in sentencing. Those mitigation pleas must have worked because the 6 year sentence is considered fairly mild. Attorney Anthony Sylvestre defended Arnold and he was prosecuted by Marjorie Moyston.
