Defendant Sentenced to 40 Years in Near-Decapitation Murder Case

According to the Montgomery County State’s Attorney’s Office, Jose Lara-Chacon of Wheaton was sentenced on Friday to life in prison suspend all but 40 years and five years of supervised probation upon release. A jury convicted Lara-Chacon of first-degree murder in November for the death of 21-year-old Dimer Diaz Martinez.

This stems from an incident on January 22, 2021 in an apartment along the 12000 block of Viers Mill Rd. in Wheaton.  The defendant called 911 requesting emergency response to the scene, stating he and the victim had been drinking alcohol and that he injured the victim. During an interview with detectives, the defendant stated he hit the victim with a baseball bat twice in the head and “finished off” the victim by stabbing him in the neck.  The victim was nearly decapitated. The defendant stated after he stabbed the victim, he placed a knife in the victim’s hand and then called 911.

“Our thoughts are with the family of Dimer Diaz Martinez today. This sort of sudden, vicious violence has no place in our community and the defendant will now be held accountable. We thank the men and women of the jury for rejecting the defendant’s claim of self-defense and helping to ensure Jose Lara-Chacon will not be able to harm another person in this way. I also commend Assistant State’s Attorney James Dietrich for his outstanding work in this matter,” said State’s Attorney John McCarthy.