FRESNO, CA (KMJ) A Fresno man convicted of a deadly stabbing near Blackstone and Griffith Avenues has been sentenced to 51 years to life in state prison.
44-year-old Ashton Henry Dejean III received the sentence Thursday for the first-degree murder of 45-year-old Manuel Lopez Junior.
Prosecutors say the October 2025 confrontation escalated when Dejean pulled a knife and repeatedly stabbed Lopez. Investigators say Lopez tried to flee but collapsed, and Dejean returned and stabbed him again before walking away.
Lopez died at a hospital after suffering 16 stab wounds. Police later recovered the murder weapon and Dejean’s bloodstained sweatshirt from a nearby Carl’s Jr. restroom. Dejean was convicted in July.
