A Newhall man who confessed to fatally shooting a childhood friend and leaving his body in the Angeles National Forest near Sand Canyon has been was sentenced to 10 years in state prison.
David Aldana, who turned 23 on Aug. 17, pleaded no contest Aug. 7 to voluntary manslaughter in the February 2016 killing of Maximiliano Bernal.
Aldana also admitted an allegation he personally used a handgun.
He turned himself into authorities at the U.S. Customs and Border Protection office at the San Ysidro Port of Entry in San Diego County on Feb. 25, 2016.
“During their interview, David Aldana agreed to show the investigators where he had discarded the body,” Deputy Lisa Jansen of the Sheriff’s Information Bureau said soon after Aldana surrendered.
He subsequently “directed the detectives to the location, where they found the victim’s remains and discovered the victim had sustained a gunshot wound to the upper torso,” Jansen said.
The 22-year-old victim, who had been shot in the forehead Feb. 23 or 24, was found at mile marker 7.98 on Sand Canyon Road.
The motive for the shooting is unclear, according to Deputy District Attorney Matthew Vodnoy.
A murder charge against Aldana was dismissed as a result of his plea.
