{"id":6072,"date":"2026-08-01T21:36:41","date_gmt":"2026-08-01T21:36:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=6072"},"modified":"2026-08-01T21:36:41","modified_gmt":"2026-08-01T21:36:41","slug":"after-dismissed-murder-case-hayward-man-sentenced-to-prison-for-rape","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=6072","title":{"rendered":"After dismissed murder case, Hayward man sentenced to prison for rape"},"content":{"rendered":"
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HAYWARD \u2014 A local resident was sentenced to six years in state prison for raping a woman as she slept, a disposition that comes years after the man beat a murder case, court records show.<\/p>\n

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Samuel Leyva, 34, pleaded no contest to forcible rape and was transferred to state prison last June, records show. He has credit for four-and-a-half years spent in jail while he was awaiting resolution in his case.<\/p>\n

Leyva was once suspected of killing 38-year-old Leonardo Amezcua Rodriguez, after he allegedly asked to passers-by if they wanted to see a dead body, then led them to the crime scene, where Amezcua Rodriguez\u2019s burning body lay. He was released from jail while the Alameda County coroner\u2019s office determined Amezcua Rodriguez had been a homicide victim via strangulation, then arrested and charged with murder.<\/p>\n

During the six months, Leyva raped a homeless woman who later flagged down a policeman and said she\u2019d been sexually assaulted when she slept, authorities said. The woman was able to describe Leyva\u2019s tattoos, which read \u201c503\u201d and \u201cEl Salvador.\u201d She said her attacker strangled her during the sexual assault, according to police testimony.<\/p>\n

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Leyva picked up a separate rape charge, but in 2024 prosecutors announced they couldn\u2019t prove the murder case and dismissed it. The closest the Alameda County District Attorney\u2019s office came to publicly explaining the decision was citing \u201cproblems of proof\u201d in court; a spokesman at the time declined to answer questions about it.<\/p>\n

Leyva\u2019s plea deal in the rape case was struck in March and finalized in late May, about a week before he was bussed to North Kern State Prison, records show.<\/p>\n

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In 2022, he asked passers-by if they wanted to see a dead body and led them to one, but the case was dismissed due to lack of evidence.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6071,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6072","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\nAfter dismissed murder case, Hayward man sentenced to prison for rape - Next City Digest<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=6072\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"After dismissed murder case, Hayward man sentenced to prison for rape - Next City Digest\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"In 2022, he asked passers-by if they wanted to see a dead body and led them to one, but the case was dismissed due to lack of evidence.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=6072\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Next City Digest\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-08-01T21:36:41+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=6072#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=6072\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/13065d40d633843429ac57d4e5c06f9b\"},\"headline\":\"After dismissed murder case, Hayward man sentenced to prison for rape\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-08-01T21:36:41+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=6072\"},\"wordCount\":329,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=6072#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/2d3258b249c896091c223a82fe85a8a4-scaled.webp\",\"articleSection\":[\"News\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=6072#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=6072\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=6072\",\"name\":\"After dismissed murder case, Hayward man sentenced to prison for rape - 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