Jose Lara-Chacon, 26, of Wheaton, has been sentenced to life in prison, suspend all but 40 years, with five years of supervised probation upon release, for the death of Dimer Diaz Martinez, 21, according to the Montgomery County State Attorney’s Office.
Lara-Chacon was sentenced late Friday by Associate Judge David Lease at the Montgomery County Circuit Court, according to the State’s Attorney’s Office’s Director of Public Affairs Lauren DeMarco.
According to officials, Lara-Chacon’s charges stem from a Jan. 22, 2021, incident at an apartment along the 12000 block of Veirs Mill Road in Wheaton. Lara-Chacon dialed 911 and said he and Diaz Martinez had been drinking alcohol and that he injured the victim, the State’s Attorney’s Office said.
The defendant told detectives he hit the victim with a baseball bat twice in the head and “finished off” by stabbing him in the neck, until the victim was nearly decapitated, according to officials.
The State’s Attorney’s Office stated that the defendant said after stabbing the victim, he placed a knife in the victim’s hand and then dialed 911.
Paul Batchelor, Lara-Chacon’s listed attorney, did not immediately respond to MoCo360’s requests for comment.
