Bernstein was Jewish, gay, quick-witted and smart, and with a large circle of friends. The sentencing hearing was held without Woodward appearing in court.

A 27-year-old man was sentenced to life without possibility of parole Friday in an Orange County court for the 2018 hate-crime killing of his gay former classmate. Samuel Lincoln Woodward was found guilty in July for the death of 19-year-old Blaze Bernstein,

This was a hate crime," Blaze Bernstein’s mother, Jeanne Pepper, told the court. “Samuel Woodward ended my son’s life because my son was Jewish and gay.”

Samuel Woodward, 27, was convicted of murder as a hate crime for the killing of Blaze Bernstein, a gay, Jewish college sophomore