A 26-year-old man has been sentenced to 16 years to life in prison for the stabbing death of a homeless woman in downtown Sacramento last year.
Casey Daniel Brown was sentenced Wednesday by Sacramento County Superior Court Judge Lawrence Brown for the second-degree murder of 68-year-old Bernice Nickson. He pleaded no contest to the charge in August.
About 4 a.m. April 10, 2010, Nickson was sleeping on a bus bench near Eighth Street and Capitol Mall, when Brown walked up to her and engaged in her conversation. After short talk, Brown walked away, but soon returned and stabbed Nickson, according to Sacramento County District Attorney's Office news release.
The stabbing was captured by a nearby exterior video camera, and the murder weapon was located in a planter area, where Brown dumped it.
Sacramento Police Department detectives were able to obtain a good description of Brown from a Downtown Plaza security guard, who talked to Brown a few minutes after the stabbing, officials said. Brown was arrested two days later.
A resident of the state of Washington, Brown was in Sacramento attending a technical college where he was studying auto mechanics.









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