Carlos Rodriguez stood alongside his public defender and listened to his victim's family talk about the damage he's done in their lives.
Rodriguez stabbed his friend Rodrigo Velasquez 17 times outside a San Joaquin Market last November. Investigators say he stole Velasquez's car keys and drove to Mexico, where police arrested him.
The victim's wife says her husband tried to help Rodriguez become a better man.
"He saw him as a brother. He always tried to help him out. He tried to look for jobs with him. He tried to get him out of drugs, but no, he didn't listen. And it's a shame that this is how he repaid him," Janie Archila said.
Velasquez's attorney says his client wanted to plead guilty ever since he got caught.
