Man killed because he said he believed in God

VALENCIA -- A 21-year-old Valencia woman has been sentenced to 16 years in prison in the stabbing death of a man who told her he'd seen God.

Samantha Elizabeth Rothwell, who said she communicated with the devil, was convicted of second-degree murder for killing 18-year-old Walter Rivas in August 2006.

Rivas was attacked on the balcony of a Huntington Beach hotel room as a group of friends and acquaintances gathered outside to smoke.

Prosecutors say Rivas remarked that it had been such a beautiful day that he had "seen God."

Rothwell replied, "I'm the devil and don't talk about God or I'll stab you," then went to her room, prosecutors said. The young woman returned soon after with a small pocket knife from her purse and stabbed Rivas in the jugular vein and back.