Ryan Nichols Coale Indicted for Murder of Another Teen on Anaheim Junior High Court


Orange County's grand jury has indicted 17-year-old Ryan Nichols Coale for March's fatal stabbing of a visiting teen on an athletic court at Sycamore Junior High School in Anaheim. Coale, who is being tried as an adult, was indicted on one felony count of murder
and a sentencing enhancement for the personal use of a deadly weapon. The district attorney's office originally charged the Anaheim resident with the same counts, but a grand jury indictment removes the need for a preliminary hearing.
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Around 7 p.m. on March 19, Coale was playing handball with three friends on the north side athletic courts at Sycamore, where 19-year-old Edgar Cervantes of Riverside was playing
basketball with four friends.

As Cervantes prepared to leave, he ran into
someone he'd had confrontations with in the past, according to a statement from the DA's office, which continues to allege a shouting match escalated into a fight between the two groups that resulted in Coale whipping out out a small knife and plunging it into the chest of Cervantes.

The bloodied man's friends rushed him to Anaheim Memorial Hospital and called 9-1-1 to report the stabbing. Cervantes died at the hospital.
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Anaheim Police investigators arrested Coale a day after the confrontation.

Edgar Cervantes, OC Homicide No. 7: Stabbed in Fight

Coale, who pleaded not guilty to the charges against him, faces up to 26 years to life in state
prison with a conviction.

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