After years on the run and a cross-border manhunt, a Sacramento jury on Wednesday convicted 33-year-old Arturo Hernandez of second-degree murder in the 2017 stabbing death of 25-year-old Anthony Freas. Jurors found that Hernandez slipped into his estranged wife’s unit at the Regency Apartments near Stockton Boulevard and attacked Freas as he slept. The verdict caps a long investigation that included Hernandez’s extradition from Mexico and sets the stage for a sentencing hearing now scheduled for April 17, 2026.
Verdict Details and Sentencing Date
According to The Sacramento Bee, prosecutors confirmed that jurors convicted Hernandez of second-degree murder, a charge that carries a maximum sentence of 16 years to life in state prison. Hernandez remains locked up at the Sacramento County Main Jail and is slated to return to court for sentencing on April 17, 2026.
Extradition and Investigation
Hernandez managed to stay out of reach of Sacramento authorities for roughly five years by going to Mexico, local coverage shows. He was finally tracked down and brought back to Sacramento in July 2023 with help from the FBI and Mexican officials, KCRA reported. Investigators have said the attack happened on November 19, 2017, inside an apartment on the 5900 block of Riza Avenue and left Freas with multiple stab wounds.
Family Reaction
For Freas’s family, the case has been a long emotional slog that stretched from a South Sacramento apartment to an international search. When Hernandez was finally arrested, Anthony’s mother told CBS Sacramento she “felt kind of relieved” after years of wondering if there would ever be an arrest. Loved ones have remembered Freas as a devoted son and a security guard whose life ended violently in that 2017 attack.
Legal Stakes
Under California law, a second-degree murder conviction means jurors found that Hernandez acted with malice but did not find premeditation. Prosecutors told The Sacramento Bee that the verdict leaves Hernandez facing the possibility of a lengthy stint in state prison. With sentencing set for April 17, 2026, his defense team still has the option to file post-trial motions or launch an appeal as the case moves into its next phase.
