Q: What ever happened with the Sean Cassinelli case? Did they ever find who killed him? I went to high school with him and it had a major impact on our neighborhood. - Anonymous, Citrus Heights
A: On July 22, 1994, Richard Avalos, 20, the last of five defendants in the July 1991 "code of silence" killing of Citrus Heights teenager Shawn Cassinelli, was sentenced to two years in prison, according to Bee reports.
Sacramento Superior Court Judge Thomas M. Cecil pronounced sentence on Avalos, who was found guilty in March 1994 of being an accessory to murder by deliberately misleading sheriff's detectives investigating the Cassinelli killing.
Nick Nathaniel "Nate" Morelos admitted stabbing the 16-year-old after a bottle allegedly was thrown at Avalos' car on Old Auburn Road. Morelos, a passenger in the vehicle, was sentenced to 15 years to life.
Prosecutor Brian Myers charged that Avalos and other witnesses instigated a cover-up to protect Morelos, delaying an arrest by weeks. At his trial, Avalos testified that he didn't want to be a snitch.
The other three defendants, all juveniles, received 90-day sentences after pleading guilty to accessory charges.
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