Placer judge gives maximum prison sentence to man convicted in Auburn library stabbing
A Placer County judge on Thursday sentenced a man to 15 years to life in prison for stabbing two people two years ago at the Auburn Public Library, prosecutors said.
Superior Court Judge Garen Horst sentenced Opada Joseph Opada, 35, who was convicted last month for stabbing two young men, according to a news release from the Placer County District Attorney’s Office. Prosecutors said the judge handed down the maximum prison sentence for the crimes.
On Nov. 18, a jury found Opada guilty of premeditated attempted murder, causing great bodily injury and assault with a deadly weapon in the Dec. 10, 2019, attack.
The two people stabbed in the attack, one sitting at a computer and another victim, were critically injured and hospitalized, authorities said.
The stabbing, which lasted a few moments that afternoon, led to a nine-hour manhunt in Auburn that included locking down a nearby middle school and shutting down adjacent county government buildings.
At the end of the search, Auburn Police Department officers arrested a man, later identified as Opada, at 10:40 p.m. that night less than two miles from the library. Investigators at the time said Opada fit the description of the suspect in the attack.
Deputy District Attorney Shannon Quigley, who prosecuted the case against Opada, commended the Police Department’s work on the investigation and the “victims’ courage to testify and confront their attacker.” She also thanked people at the library who intervened, provided statements to police and testified in the trial.
“On the day of the incident and throughout the trial, Placer County citizens showed the strength of our community in the wake of this violent attack,” Quigley said in the news release. “While there may always be people like the defendant who are willing to hurt others, in Placer County there will always be good people willing to help.”
This story was originally published December 23, 2021 at 6:28 PM.
