A California man has learned his sentence after he “took a vacation day” from work to kill his estranged wife.
Kandynn Wilson was found guilty in December 2025 of fatally stabbing his estranged wife, Ericka Wilson, 23 times in the neck during a 2022 attack. Wilson, 34, was sentenced on Wednesday, May 27, to life without parole plus one year for the killing.
“This Defendant murdered his estranged wife in cold blood displaying a vicious brutality in lying in wait and stabbing her multiple times,” San Diego County District Attorney Summer Stephan said in a press release about the sentencing on May 27.
The Wilsons were married for six years and shared one child together before they separated.
The fatal incident took place on January 27, 2022, when Kandynn “took a vacation day from work” and drove from Oakland to Ericka’s place of employment. He then planned to wait for her to leave her job “so he could ambush her in the parking lot,” according to the DA’s press release.
Kandynn initially drove to the wrong location, so he ended up at Ericka’s apartment complex and waited for her in the parking lot.
“He reclined his seat and waited for her to return from work,” the DA’s press release said. “As Ericka Wilson pulled into the parking area and began to get out of her vehicle, the defendant approached her wearing a ski mask. He grabbed her and carried out a brutal stabbing attack, inflicting 23 wounds to her neck.”
The San Diego County Sheriff’s Office said that Ericka, 29, called 911 during the attack as she tried to get away from Kandynn, according to Law & Crime.
“A brave neighbor saw the attack, and chased the defendant with a bat, forcing him to flee on foot and leave behind his vehicle, gloves, and murder weapon,” the DA’s release added.
When police eventually arrived at the apartment complex, Ericka was found bleeding out in the parking lot. “She had obvious traumatic injuries,” the sheriff’s office said in a press release on January 29, 2022. “Deputies and firefighters conducted lifesaving measures on the woman, but unfortunately she succumbed to her injuries and was pronounced deceased at the scene.”
Kandynn was found hours later at a 7-Eleven, where he was arrested.
There had been multiple incidents of domestic violence between the couple when they were together, and prosecutors said in a sentencing brief that Kandynn was in the process of planning his wife’s murder for months, according to The San Diego Union-Tribune.
Kandynn was “covered in Ericka’s blood” at the time of his arrest, according to the DA release.
“Intimate partner violence continues to be one of the most common and dangerous forms of violence we confront, and this case is a stark reminder of its devastating impact,” Stephan added in the press release.
If you are experiencing domestic violence, call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233, or go to thehotline.org. All calls are toll-free and confidential. The hotline is available 24/7 in more than 170 languages.
