Monterey County prosecutors announced Thursday that a man has been convicted of first-degree murder for attacking and killing a man with an ax while in a meth-induced psychosis at a King City Motel 6 in 2022.
Kevin Powell was charged in the attack that occurred on Sept. 14, 2022, at a Motel 6 where the victim and his brother were staying, the district attorney’s office said.
After returning from dinner at their sister’s house, they were standing outside their motel room talking when Powell, whom they did not know, parked his car near them. He then got out, pulled a four-foot ax from his car and attacked them with it, prosecutors said.
One brother ran and escaped with minor injuries, but the other stumbled and suffered serious injuries in the ax attack and later died in a hospital. Powell testified at trial that he attacked the couple amid a methamphetamine-induced psychosis, prosecutors said.
A Monterey County Superior Court jury convicted him of both first-degree murder and attempted murder. He also had a previous conviction for street terrorism. He will be sentenced Jan. 9 and faces a possible life sentence, prosecutors said.
