El Cajon

A 25-year-old man accused of killing a man with a broken beer bottle during a Halloween party in an El Cajon nightclub was convicted Thursday of second-degree murder. Christopher Munoz, of San Diego, was also convicted of two counts of battery involving serious bodily injury upon a second man.

Killed in the Nov. 1 fracas at the El Amigo Plaza was James Bruner, 20, of El Cajon. Bruner’s family donated his heart to Sharp Memorial Hospital for a successful heart transplant operation. The second man is Jesse May, 21, of Lemon Grove, who was cut across his nose and face with the broken bottle during an argument with Munoz.

San Diego Superior Court Judge Elizabeth Zumwalt set sentencing for June 12, when Munoz could receive a sentence of at least 16 years to life in state prison.

Zumwalt increased bail to $750,000 and Munoz was ordered held in County Jail.

Munoz’s attorney, Robert Baxley, argued that May started the argument by challenging Munoz to fight. He claimed Munoz stabbed the victims in self-defense after he was “cornered” in a restroom.