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“Power Rangers” Star Sentenced to Six Years in Prison for Murdering Roommate

Summary: An ex-Power Ranger was sentenced to six years in prison for stabbing his roommate to death.

Don’t make the Red Power Ranger angry. This week, the bizarre story of “Power Rangers Samurai” actor Ricardo Medina Jr. killing his roommate has come to a conclusion. A judge sentenced the D-lister to 6 years in prison for stabbing him to death with a sword.

According to TMZ, Medina, 38, was given the maximum sentence after he pled guilty to voluntary manslaughter two weeks ago. He was handed the ruling by LA Superior Court Judge Daviann Mitchell.

The actor was arrested and charged with the murder of his Palmdale, California roommate, Josh Sutter, in January of 2016. He had been arrested a year ago for the same crime but was let go because the district attorney wanted the cops to investigate the matter further.

Medina admitted that he had stabbed Sutter with a Conan Barbarian-style sword after the two got into a heated argument about Medina’s girlfriend, but Medina had claimed self-defense. His attorney told TMZ at the time of the second arrest that Medina was an innocent man.

“As far as I know, nothing has changed since a year ago when Rickey was first arrested. From the evidence I am aware of, he is as innocent now as he was then …” Medina’s attorney said. “Waiting a year to charge someone can prejudice a client; memories become faded, you may not be able to find percipient witnesses, and crime scenes can get corrupted.”

Sutter’s family never believed the self-defense story because they said their son Josh had defensive wounds on his hands and most of the blood was outside Medina’s room. Medina countered that the blood was there because he had retreated to his room to escape his roommate.

Prosecutors said that Medina had stabbed Sutter in the abdomen multiple times. The two had only been roommates for two months.

Medina was best known for playing Cole Evans, the Red Wild Force Ranger, on “Power Rangers Wild Force.” He played Cole in 2002, and he reprised his role in the Power Rangers franchise in 2011 as a different character in “Power Rangers Samurai.” In between those gigs, he had landed bit parts on TV shows once in a while, but his career was ultimately lackluster.

Medina initially faced life in prison for murder, but he pled down to a felony count of voluntary manslaughter. According to Deadline, he could get parole after three years.

Sutter’s father told Deadline that he wished that no one would view Medina as a celebrity, but instead as a murderer.

“We also hope that everyone that looks at Ricardo from now on will never see him as a celebrity but as nothing more than a cold-blooded killer,” Sutter’s father said on Thursday.

It is noted that Medina has no involvement in the Power Rangers reboot that is currently in theaters and stars Elizabeth Banks and Becky G.

Photo courtesy of Pinterest

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Teresa Lo: