Judge Frees Woman Convicted In Newark Teen's Murder

OAKLAND, CA —About 30 family members and friends of a reputed gang member cheered on Friday when a judge ordered that she be released from custody and that her murder conviction be reversed for her role in the fatal stabbing of a 17-year-old Newark High School student in 2010.

Alameda County Superior Court Judge Morris Jacobson cited legislation that went into effect on Jan. 1 that prohibits participants in a felony in which death occurs from being liable for murder unless that person was the actual killer or had an intent to kill.

Referring to Daniela Guzman, who's now 25, Jacobson said, "It seems to me that she's eligible for relief under this (new law)."

Guzman was convicted on June 30, 2015, of second degree murder, conspiracy to commit assault and gang enhancement clauses in connection with the fatal stabbing of Justice Afoa, who was a high school football star, near the intersection of Cedar Boulevard and Birch Street in Newark at about 3:30 p.m. on Dec. 15, 2010.

On Aug. 28, 2015, Jacobson, who presided over her trial, sentenced her to 15 years to life in state prison.

Alameda County prosecutor Elgin Lowe told jurors during Guzman's trial that although she didn't personally kill Afoa, her anger that a friend of Afoa had broken up with her set off a chain of events that led to Afoa's death.

Lowe said, "She kept insisting and kept the whole thing going."

Guzman's brother, Rafael Tovar, 38, was convicted in July 2014 of first-degree murder, conspiracy to commit murder and committing the crimes to benefit a criminal street gang and on April 27, 2015, he was sentenced to 29 years to life in state prison.

Daniel Howard, a 37-year-old trucker from Fremont, was convicted on May 31, 2013, of first-degree murder and committing the crime to benefit a gang for his role in Afoa's death as well as two counts of premeditated attempted murder for trying to kill his girlfriend and her unborn child in a separate incident in Fremont on Nov. 25, 2012.

He was sentenced to 70 years to life in state prison on June 27, 2013.

Lowe said Tovar and Howard were the ones who stabbed Afoa.

Lowe said the chain of events that led to Afoa's death began when Afoa beat up Tovar at Tovar's home at about 12:30 a.m. on Sept. 12, 2010. He said Tovar started a fight because he was upset that Afoa's friend had broken up with Guzman, his sister.

Tovar initially was fighting with the teen who had broken up with Guzman but Afoa got involved when he tried to break up the fight, Lowe said.

Six weeks later, on Oct. 30, 2010, Afoa was assaulted at a house party at 36187 Cedar Blvd. in Newark and Guzman subsequently admitted she had set him up to be assaulted in retaliation for the beating of Tovar, Lowe said.

Guzman and Tovar initially were upset with the teen who had broken up with her but their focus later turned to Afoa because he had beaten up Tovar, according to Lowe.

Guzman acted as a spotter for Tovar and Howard, telling the two reputed gang members where to find Afoa the day he was killed on Dec. 15, 2010, Lowe said.

During her trial, Guzman's attorney, Ernie Castillo, asked jurors to find Guzman not guilty of murder and only convict her of conspiracy to commit assault because he believes she never intended for Afoa to be killed and believes Tovar and Howard acted on their own when he and Howard killed Afoa.

Jacobson said on Friday that the jury's decision not to convict Guzman of first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder and only convict her of second-degree murder indicates that it didn't believe she had malice aforethought.

Jacobson said that under the new law he is only finding Guzman guilty of conspiracy to commit assault and the gang enhancement, not second-degree murder.

He sentenced her to 8 years in state prison, which is the maximum term for those sentences, but said she was eligible to be released from custody on Friday because of the time she's already served.

After Friday's hearing, Castillo said, "It's been a long road for her but it's totally worthwhile. I'm happy for Daniela and her family."

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