LC Man Guilty of 2nd Degree Murder in Connection with Baseball Bat Killing

A Jury Friday found Leonard Telles guilty of 2nd degree murder for beating a man to death with a baseball bat.

The jury found him guilty of the lesser charge, as well as kidnapping and tampering with evidence.

Police say Telles attacked Jerome Saiz because they were both involved with the same woman. Investigators found Saiz’s body tucked inside a rolled carpet.

Saiz later died at a hospital.

Before his conviction Friday, Telles took the stand in his own defense, telling the jury Saiz attacked him and he had to defend himself with a bat. “I turned around and told him, ‘if you come near me, I’m going to hit you with this bat,’ and he came at me and I went off on him,” said Telles.

The woman Telles and Saiz were fighting over, Rebecca Gomez, is also accused in Saiz’s death. She is awaiting trial.