Two men sentenced in two Richmond beatings

Two men were sentenced to lengthy prison terms for the fatal beating of one man and for beating another man nearly to death the same day in South Richmond.

Jose C. Bello-Garcia was ordered to serve 40 years in prison, and Jose Raul Gaitan to serve 25 years, on Monday in Richmond Circuit Court.

The two defendants beat to death Baudilio Lopez-Andres, 52, in an abandoned house along Jefferson Davis Highway on March 29, using their fists, feet and construction debris, authorities said. He died two days later.

The defendants attacked the victim while they were drinking in the abandoned house, authorities said.

After the first beating, the two defendants went with another man, who had witnessed the attack on Lopez-Andres, to get beer at the nearby Golden Food Market, authorities said.

The defendants took this man behind the store and beat him severely, leaving him disfigured and with damaged vision, authorities said.

-- Reed Williams