Calif. man gets life sentence for hacking deaths

SACRAMENTO, Calif. – A 37-year-old California man has been sentenced to life in prison for hacking to death a woman and her 3-year-old son with a meat cleaver.

Sacramento County District Attorney Jan Scully says Lalesh Kumar on Friday received a life sentence without the possibility of parole plus an additional seven years and four months for the June 2005 killings.

Kumar agreed to a plea deal last month and pleaded no contest to murder and two counts of assault on police officers for a struggle during his arrest.

Authorities say Kumar lived with his parents in Sacramento in an apartment below the victim, 33-year-old Virginia Pulido. Police arrived at Pulido's home to find the woman and her child covered in blood and Kumar wielding the cleaver.

Kumar's attorney Linda Parisi has said Kumar has a history of mental health problems.