A Minnesota man was sentenced on September 12, 2024, to 40 years in prison after killing his landlord during a violent confrontation in Elko New Market, about 30 miles south of Minneapolis. Cesar Jeff Cervantes-Montoya, 27, struck his 68-year-old landlord multiple times with a hammer after a heated argument, resulting in the landlord’s death on January 5, 2022.
Cervantes-Montoya, who had lived in the basement of the landlord’s home with his girlfriend for three years, claimed that the landlord, referred to in court documents as “BRB,” had verbally abused him, made racial comments, and had been beating his dog. These tensions finally erupted when Cervantes-Montoya confronted his landlord about allegedly hitting the dog. According to his statement to the police, the argument escalated quickly. “I grabbed the nearest object, which was a hammer, and I (expletive) hit him with it,” Cervantes-Montoya told investigators. He struck the landlord two or three times in the face or head area, causing him to fall. After the attack, Cervantes-Montoya admitted that he “freaked out” but also confessed to feeling “slightly liberated” as his landlord lay unresponsive. He told investigators, “I killed him, and I don’t care.”
When officers arrived on the scene, they found the victim’s body face down at the bottom of the basement stairs with significant head trauma. A hammer was located on a coffee table nearby. The autopsy confirmed that the landlord had died from ligature strangulation and multiple blunt-force injuries. Additional findings showed signs of defensive wounds, broken ribs, and fractures to the neck.
Cervantes-Montoya initially called 911 and confessed to the crime. He later explained that he did not think the attack would necessarily kill the victim but said he wouldn’t have cared if it did. After the confrontation, he rinsed the hammer off in the sink, a detail he shared with investigators.
During his trial, Cervantes-Montoya pleaded guilty to second-degree intentional murder. He received a 40-year sentence for his actions as part of the legal proceedings. Details of the fatal argument highlighted the deep animosity between tenant and landlord.
Cervantes-Montoya’s defense argued that accusations of mistreatment, verbal abuse, racial tensions, and concerns for his dog compounded longstanding issues between the two men. While the court acknowledged his claims, the severity of the attack, which included both blunt force trauma and strangulation, left no room for leniency.