Ricardo Medina Jr., the former Power Rangers Wild Force actor who fatally stabbed his roommate with a sword in 2015, is not in prison. He served roughly three years of a six-year sentence for voluntary manslaughter and was released on parole around 2020.1Entertainment Weekly. Sister of Victim in Power Rangers Sword Killing Recounts Shocking Crime Since then he has stayed out of public view. If you are searching for where Ricardo Medina Jr. is now, the short answer is that he is a free man living privately, with no reported acting work, interviews, or public appearances since his release.2Fox News. Power Rangers Star Called Madman, Got Away With Fatal Stabbing
Life After Prison
Medina has kept an unusually quiet profile for someone whose case drew national coverage. There are no known public appearances, no interviews, and no return to acting on record since his parole.2Fox News. Power Rangers Star Called Madman, Got Away With Fatal Stabbing His acting career had already stalled by the time of the killing; he was living at an animal sanctuary in Santa Clarita and working as a dog trainer.3Entertainment Weekly. Sister of Victim in Power Rangers Sword Killing Recounts Shocking Crime
The Sentence He Actually Served
Medina originally faced a first-degree murder charge that carried a potential sentence of 26 years to life. In March 2017, he pleaded guilty to one count of voluntary manslaughter and admitted the sword-use allegation; the murder charge was dismissed.4Daily News. Former Power Rangers Actor Pleads Guilty to Killing Roommate With Sword His attorney, Stanley L. Friedman, said Medina took the deal because he felt “a great deal of angst” over the prospect of a life sentence at trial.5NBC News. Power Rangers Star Ricardo Medina Jr. Admits Killing Roommate With Sword
On March 30, 2017, Superior Court Judge Daviann L. Mitchell sentenced him to six years in state prison, the maximum for the charge, at a hearing in Lancaster, California.6Time. Ricardo Medina Jr. Sentenced, Stabbing, Power Rangers At sentencing, victim Joshua Sutter’s father, Donald Sutter, asked the judge to “put this killer in general population so he will see and feel the same fear that Joshua must have felt.”7BBC News. Power Rangers Actor Ricardo Medina Jailed for Killing Roommate Medina ultimately served about half that time before being paroled.
What He Did
On January 31, 2015, Medina and his 36-year-old roommate, Joshua Sutter, argued at a home on San Francisquito Canyon Road in Green Valley, a mountain community north of Los Angeles.5NBC News. Power Rangers Star Ricardo Medina Jr. Admits Killing Roommate With Sword The dispute involved Medina’s girlfriend. By Medina’s account, he and his girlfriend retreated to a bedroom and locked the door, Sutter broke through, and Medina stabbed him with a large double-edged sword he kept near the bed, in self-defense.8CBS News. Ex-Power Ranger Sentenced to 6 Years for Fatal Stabbing Medina called 911 himself. On the recording, later played in court, he can be heard saying, “Damn it, Josh. Why did you do this, man? Why did you make me do this?”9NBC Los Angeles. 911 Call Made by Former Power Rangers Actor Charged With Murder Played in Court
Why the Self-Defense Story Didn’t Hold
The autopsy found ten sharp-force injuries on Sutter’s body, including defensive wounds on his hands and a fatal stab that passed through his abdomen and left an exit wound on his back.10ABC 30. Ex-Power Ranger Should Be in Jail, Stabbing Victim’s Family Says Medina had described the contact as a “poke.” Sutter’s sister, Rachel Kennedy, said she saw the bedroom door afterward and found it “perfectly intact” with “absolutely no damage,” contradicting the account that Sutter had kicked it in.1Entertainment Weekly. Sister of Victim in Power Rangers Sword Killing Recounts Shocking Crime Medina himself reportedly showed no signs of physical injury.3Entertainment Weekly. Sister of Victim in Power Rangers Sword Killing Recounts Shocking Crime
His girlfriend, the only other eyewitness, testified at the preliminary hearing that she could not recall many details and described the stabbing as “a poke,” a characterization the exit wound contradicted.9NBC Los Angeles. 911 Call Made by Former Power Rangers Actor Charged With Murder Played in Court The defense at one point suggested some marks on Sutter’s body were dog bites, but the autopsy classified them as sharp-force injuries.2Fox News. Power Rangers Star Called Madman, Got Away With Fatal Stabbing
The Case Back in the News
The story returned to public attention on April 7, 2025, when Investigation Discovery aired an episode of its Hollywood Demons docuseries titled “Dark Side of the Power Rangers.” Kennedy described in the documentary how she had first met Medina on a dating app in 2014 and hired him as a dog trainer at her Santa Clarita animal sanctuary, where he lived on-site. She said his behavior deteriorated over time, that he became reclusive, kept his room in squalid conditions, and threatened to release her dogs into the wild when she tried to evict him.3Entertainment Weekly. Sister of Victim in Power Rangers Sword Killing Recounts Shocking Crime
Kennedy has said publicly that she believes Medina’s minor celebrity worked in his favor at sentencing. “He was a simple guy, and because of Ricardo’s celebrity, I feel that he really just got a slap on the wrist,” she told interviewers.11AOL. Sister of Victim in Power Rangers Sword Killing Recounts Shocking Crime Medina, for his part, has said nothing publicly since walking out of prison.