Road Rage Killer Sentenced to 7 Years

A Livermore man was sentenced Tuesday to seven years in prison for fatally stabbing a Fremont resident in a road-rage fueled slaying in 2011, according to the Bay Area News Group.

Cort Holbrook, who claimed he was acting in self-defense when he stabbed Ziesmer on March 9, 2011, was found guilty of voluntary manslaughter and convicted on March 14 of this year.

Holbrook has been incarcerated since being charged with Ziesmer’s death.

As Patch previously reported, Ziesmer and girlfriend Roschelle Morgan of Newark were driving down First Street in Livermore when they got into a gesturing match with Holbrook, who was also driving down the same road.

Both drivers pulled into a parking lot where Ziesmer and Holbrook got into a fistfight. According to probable cause statement, Ziesmer punched Holbrook in the face twice, knocking him to the ground. The statement says Holbrook reached into his car, retrieved a dagger and stabbed Ziesmer in the upper chest.

Ziesmer drove himself to ValleyCare Medical offices in Livermore but had to be transferred to Eden Hospital in Castro Valley, where he died later that day.

According to BANG, Holbrook was initially charged with second-degree murder, which was eventually lessened to voluntary manslaughter.

Holbrook faced a minimum of four years and a maximum of 12 years in prison, BANG reports.

On Tuesday, Alameda County Superior Court Judge Kevin Murphy sentenced Holbrook to seven years in prison, with two years credit for the time he has already served, according to BANG.