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Man gets 15 years, P2.4-M fine for killing teen over cigarette
By Pete Laude The Philippine Star

Manila, Philippines - A Caloocan City court sentenced a man to 15 years’ imprisonment Thursday and ordered him to pay a total of P2.4 million to the family of the teenager he killed three years ago over a cigarette.

Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 128 Judge Eleanor Kwong found Leorico Capati guilty of homicide for the 2008 killing of 18-year-old Raymark Goque.

Capati was sentenced in absentia after he jumped bail and went into hiding.

Court records show that on Feb. 3, 2008, at around 3 a.m., Capati â€" a resident of Barangay 16 in Caloocan City â€" became angry when Goque, a supermarket salesclerk, gave him the one he was puffing when Capati asked for a cigarette.

Capati, who was drunk, traded blows with Goque. The teenager overpowered him, until he drew a knife and stabbed Goque eight times. One of the knife thrusts pierced Capati’s heart, another his lung.

In a seven-page decision, Kwong said Capati killed Goque “without any justifying circumstance” and during the trial of the case Capati jumped bail. “His flight is a strong indication of his guilt,” Kwong said.

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