A man who authorities say “snapped” and stabbed his girlfriend to death after she refused to make him rice was sentenced Tuesday to 14 to 35 years in prison.
Jose Galan-Preval, 47, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder with use of a deadly weapon following the Jan. 23 fatal stabbing of Yaimara Leyva-Cadet.
Galan-Preval agreed to a sentence of 10 to 25 years for the murder charge. Clark County Deputy District Attorney Phil Froehlich urged District Judge Jaqueline Bluth to impose an additional 20 years behind bars for the deadly weapon enhancement.
Instead, she handed down an additional 4 to 10 years.
“I do recognize that Mr. Galan-Preval took responsibility right away, has expressed from the beginning his extreme remorse that there is no criminal history, and I do believe that he just snapped,” Bluth said. “It’s been difficult to balance those things because it is such a horrific way to die.”
No one from Leyva-Cadet’s family spoke during the sentencing.
Issues in their relationship
Froehlich said that all of Leyva-Cadet’s relatives live in Cuba, and that she and Galan-Preval, who were both optometrists overseas, had moved to the United States together in search of a fresh start.
They lived in downtown Las Vegas with other roommates, according to court records. The prosecutor said that Galan-Preval had become a manual laborer, but Leyva-Cadet was unemployed, which caused issues in their relationship.
On the day of the stabbing, the couple had been arguing for days, causing Galan-Preval to lose sleep, according to special public defender Jin Kim-Steadman.
She said they had faced unique challenges as a result of their immigration.
“Instead of it bringing them closer, she became more controlling,” Kim-Steadman said. “Instead of working, even though she was qualified to do at least manual labor, she did not. She demanded to see his phone.”
Galan-Preval, who had been drinking alcohol, was getting ready for work, the defense attorney said. When he asked her to make him something to eat, she said no, and he stabbed her repeatedly, according to testimony from their roommates.
“He snapped,” Kim-Steadman added. “When he came to and realized what was happening, he did not punch and stab anyone else, and he just left.”
Afterward, he turned himself in and spoke with the police voluntarily, Kim-Steadman said, describing Galan-Preval as regretful.
She said that following the stabbing, Galan-Preval’s friends and family were shocked, considering his calm, kind, and generous personality.
Galan-Preval asked for forgiveness from Leyva-Cadet’s family and his own.
“I would have liked for me to be in her place instead of her,” he said through a Spanish interpreter. “I ask for forgiveness from this country that let me come in. I am very remorseful.”
Contact Akiya Dillon at adillon@reviewjournal.com.
