A man who tried to kill his wife at Coronado Beach in an attack that included trying to bury her in the sand was sentenced this week to 18 years in state prison.
Jose Luis Mares III, 26, was arrested on allegations of choking his wife, trying to drag her into the surf and bury her on the beach on Feb. 24, 2021.
Coronado police said the woman called 911 just before 9 p.m. that night to report her husband had just tried to kill her.
Officers arrived to find the woman “badly injured” on a sidewalk on Ocean Boulevard. Medics took her to a hospital for treatment.
Mares pleaded guilty in Chula Vista Superior Court earlier this month to attempted murder, and admitted inflicting great bodily injury under circumstances involving domestic violence, according to the District Attorney’s Office.
Prosecutors alleged that amid an argument, Mares choked his wife, causing her to lose consciousness, then dragged her by the hair toward the shoreline.
After she briefly fought him off, Mares pushed her onto the beach and began covering her in sand, then took his wife’s car keys and fled, prosecutors said.
The victim was able to run toward Ocean Boulevard, where a passerby found her on the sidewalk, according to Coronado police.
Police found Mares a short time later hiding in the backyard of a home on Alameda Boulevard, the department said.
