La Mesa Man Sentenced For Fatal Stabbing In Front Of Children

EL CAJON, CA — A La Mesa man was sentenced to 31 years to life in prison for fatally stabbing a man during a confrontation at an El Cajon apartment complex, officials announced.

Stephen Mathews Coney, 30, was convicted Sept. 9 of second-degree murder in the August 2025 killing of Albert Johnson, 59, according to the San Diego County District Attorney's Office.

Prosecutors said Coney confronted Johnson in the parking lot of an apartment complex on South Sunshine Avenue near West Renette Avenue. Johnson had recently rekindled a five-year relationship with Coney's ex-girlfriend.

During the confrontation, Coney pulled out a knife and stabbed Johnson in front of several children, according to prosecutors.

Johnson was taken to a hospital, where he died. El Cajon police arrested Coney at the apartment complex.

One child testified during the trial that she and her siblings and cousins witnessed Johnson fight for his life before dying, prosecutors said.

Nearly 30 members of Johnson's family attended the trial and sentencing.

"Our family is stunned and left lonely because of the empty space that has been left because of the dastardly crime perpetrated on my son," Johnson's father, Wyatt Johnson, said in a statement.

"Albert was making life a little better for those all around him and his children, who now are left without a father and example of a good man whom they could look up to, and know what righteous life is all about."