Man gets life in prison for murder, cutting out girlfriend's lung while she was alive

POMONA, Calif. -- A 28-year-old man was sentenced to life in prison without parole for the 2014 murder of his girlfriend, whose lung was cut out from her body while she was still alive.

On Nov. 29, 2014, Alexander Anthony Clever was arguing with the victim, Yvette Silva, inside a bathroom at a motel in Pomona, California, according to Deputy District Attorney Michael Matoba, who prosecuted the case.

Two friends in the motel room tried to intervene after they heard muffled screaming from inside the bathroom, Matoba said. Clever was then seen holding his unconscious girlfriend in a chokehold.

The two witnesses tried to free Silva and then went to get help, the prosecutor added.

When Pomona police responded, they found Silva in the shower with her heart and her right lung removed from her body. Authorities said she was alive when her lung was cut out.

Two days later, Clever was arrested outside of his house and police found a knife on him that later tested positive with Silva's DNA.

Clever admitted he committed mayhem and torture during the course of the killing, and pleaded no contest to one count of first-degree murder, according to the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office.