A New York City man set to appear in an upcoming Netflix series was sentenced on Wednesday to five years in prison for stabbing another man in a Colorado bar fight after his girlfriend randomly licked “Bachelor” contestant Jessica Edwards.
Carlos Vega Jr., 42, was convicted in September for the attack on Jordan Hyder at a bar in the southeast Denver suburb of Lone Tree on July 11, 2021.
According to the Douglas County District Attorney’s Office, the incident began when Vega’s girlfriend inexplicably licked Edwards on the face. Edwards was a contestant on season 28 of “The Bachelor” and won season 10 of “Bachelor in Paradise” last year when she got engaged to Spencer Conley.
After the surprise lick from Vega’s girlfriend, Edwards’ then-boyfriend, Hyder, confronted Vega and exchanged words. Hyder then punched Vega, who pulled out a knife and stabbed him in the hand, authorities said.
At the time of the stabbing, Vega had just been released from prison on a manslaughter conviction in New York. In 2016, he pleaded guilty to killing Robert Gaston in a Bronx bodega back in 2007.
“Vega had just done time in New York City and obviously didn’t learn his lesson. He now has several years in prison to think about the consequences of his actions,” said senior deputy prosecutor Nate Marsh.
Vega was also recently interviewed for the upcoming second season of Netflix docuseries “Homicide: New York.” The show’s producers submitted documents to support him at his sentencing, arguing for leniency.
The episode in which Vega is set to appear will document the rape and murder of his mother when he was 6 years old. The killer was Matias Reyes, who also raped and murdered a jogger in Central Park in an infamous 1990 case that resulted in five wrongful convictions.
