After a gay man was sentenced July 1 to 18 years in state prison for killing a National City man he said he loved, the reason it happened remains a mystery.

Fernando Enrique Valenzuela, 48, was ordered by Chula Vista Superior Court Judge Alvin Green, Jr. to pay $6,854.90 in funeral expenses for Arturo Ponce, 28, who was stabbed 26 times in his National City apartment on July 1, 2007. The state crime victim’s fund paid for the funeral and Valenzuela was ordered to pay the money back to the fund.

Valenzuela told the judge he suffered from AIDS and from a psychiatric disorder. “I take many pills,” said Valenzuela. He said he has seen a psychiatrist since 1997. His attorney, Julie Gibson, said her client was diagnosed with bipolar personality disorder just two weeks before the slaying.

Ponce and Valenzuela were dating each other, but a witness in 2008 said Valenzuela appeared to be jealous about something. The witness said he kept asking Ponce questions around 5:15 a.m. before Ponce was repeatedly stabbed. Paramedics found Ponce on a sidewalk near Alpha Street and tried to save him, but he died 20 minutes later. Twenty stab wounds were in his back.

A neighbor, Fabricio Zazueta, testified at the preliminary hearing in April 2008, that he tried to stop the attack and grabbed one knife away from Valenzuela, but that Valenzuela grabbed another knife and stabbed him. Zazueta testified that Valenzuela bit him on his right wrist, drawing blood, before Valenzuela escaped.

Family members sat on opposite sides in the courtroom, with both sides noting the sentencing was taking place on the second anniversary of the slaying. Ponce worked in a barber shop in Chula Vista. Valenzuela formerly worked as a waiter in restaurants.

“I’m very sad and sorrowful. I’m 48 years old. I have never been in jail before,” said Valenzuela. “My family is also devastated and to the Ponce family, I pay my regrets.”

Valenzuela, dressed in a blue jail uniform, said he could not bear to look at Ponce’s four brothers in the courtroom. One of them said, “Please do.” Valenzuela turned and then looked briefly at them before a sheriff’s deputy turned his seat back.

“I will ask forgiveness of the Ponce family. Arturo Ponce, I loved very much, I will never forget,” said Valenzuela, who then spoke of their family. “They knew the relationship that existed between the two of us. They treated me fine.”

The four Ponce brothers spoke of family reunions that caused them to recall Ponce’s absence. “Every member of the family experiences great pain. He did not deserve to die in this awful way,” said Omar Ponce. “He broke our lives into pieces at the same time he was doing that to Arturo.”

“No hell can ever be good for him,” said Oscar Ponce, saying he would have “closure” when Valenzuela is also dead.

The Ponce brothers described Arturo as happy, someone who would tell funny stories, and a person who was a good example with a great heart. They repeatedly said “Arturo, rest in peace” as they spoke of him.

They all said their mother, who was not in court, was suffering terribly from grief.

“He does not deserve mercy today. There’s not a single sign of remorse,” said Carlos Ponce, who described the slaying as “premeditated murder.”

Valenzuela plead guilty April 1 to voluntary manslaughter, and a murder charge was dismissed. He also plead guilty to attempted murder and felony assault of Zazueta. Valenzuela also plead guilty to burglary of Ponce’s apartment.

Gibson said she and Deputy District Attorney Claudine Ruiz helped structure the guilty plea, and Valenzuela knew he would receive 18 years in prison. He will have to serve 85 percent of that term before he can be paroled.

Octavio Valenzuela told the Ponce brothers his brother “has a record of sickness of many years” and was hospitalized for depression. “I want to say, ‘I’m sorry,’” he told them. “I know ‘sorry’ is not very much. I’ve been praying a great deal for them.”

Judge Green told both families their scars “will heal, life will go on,” in time. “You will heal – that’s what your beloved brother would want,” he concluded.

Green gave Valenzuela credit for the last two years previously served in jail and fined him $10,000. He also had conducted the preliminary hearing in 2008.

San Diego Police assisted National City Police in locating Valenzuela, whom they found lying on the floor of his home on South 46th Street hours later, along with empty prescription bottles. They rushed Valenzuela, who had sliced his wrists, to a hospital.

Gibson said Valenzuela had no history of violence. She said Valenzuela grew up in a large family with 11 other brothers and sisters, including some who were in court along with his mother.