A man convicted of second-degree murder for fatally “sucker punching” a victim in the Gaslamp Quarter will spend 15 years to life in prison.
Mahad A. Ahmed, 24, learned his sentence Friday in a downtown San Diego courtroom.
In May, a jury found Ahmed guilty in the murder of Michael Beaver, 25, outside a Gaslamp restaurant.
After a night out with his brother and a friend, Beaver was discovered unconscious on an F Street sidewalk in the early hours of June 15, 2014, suffering from blunt force injuries to his upper torso, according to San Diego Police. He died from those injuries at the hospital.
A deputy district attorney said that night, Ahmed’s group of at least three friends got into a dispute with Beaver. It began with a woman slapping Beaver in the face, and then another man punched him.
Finally Ahmed ran up and sucker-punched Beaver in the head, the prosecutor said.
A witness heard Beaver’s head strike a metal rail as he fell to the ground.
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Ahmed’s defense attorney argued that Beaver was drunk and advanced on the group after he was first punched, City News Service reported. After Ahmed hit Beaver – ending a fight of about six seconds -- the group walked away, she said.
The prosecutor said Beaver’s blood was later found on Ahmed’s shirt. He was linked to the case while already in custody for another incident.
