Man Gets Prison For LA Construction Site Hammer Killing

LOS ANGELES (AP) — A man who bludgeoned his friend to death with a sledgehammer at a Los Angeles construction site has been sentenced to 16 years to life in prison.

Twenty-one-year-old Christian Valdez was sentenced Monday for second-degree murder.

Prosecutors say Valdez and 19-year-old Juan Sanchez were longtime friends who worked together on a construction site in the Silver Lake neighborhood.

Authorities say Valdez showed up to work drunk last May and was told to go home. He borrowed Sanchez's car but crashed into a parked car.

Authorities say Sanchez hoped his friend would pay for the damage but instead, Valdez later returned to work and bludgeoned Sanchez with a sledgehammer and a framing hammer.

(© Copyright 2015 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)