Man who killed cousin last year gets 10 years in prison

Aaron McAteer, 20, was sentenced to 123 months in prison for killing his cousin Manuel Trujillo last October in Spokane Valley.

The second-degree murder sentence handed down last week in Spokane County Superior Court also includes three months of probation and $2,217 in restitution.

Police responded to two men fighting around 4:30 p.m. on Oct. 14. They found Trujillo not breathing with blood covering his lower legs and pooling onto the ground. Trujillo was taken to Sacred Heart Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead from nine stab wounds.

McAteer was located the next day at his attorney’s office and said Trujillo had attacked him first with a pocketknife, and that he had reacted in self-defense. McAteer did not have any visible wounds consistent with defending himself, and his story was not supported by witness testimony or surveillance footage.