An ex-con who stabbed a stranger to death in a Pacific Beach bathroom after being released from prison just 16 days earlier has pleaded guilty to second-degree murder.

Martin Alvarez, Jr., 36, admitted he killed Michael Wagley, 39, on Aug. 16, 2020, in the lavatory at 700 Grand Ave. along the Pacific Beach boardwalk at 7:30 p.m.

Deputy District Attorney Jeff Dort said Wednesday that Alvarez will be sentenced to 16 years to life in state prison.

San Diego Superior Court Judge Polly Shamoon set sentencing for July 26. Alvarez remains in the South Bay Detention Facility without bail.

Dort said there was “no communication, no confrontation” between the two men in the restroom before the incident. It appeared to be a random homicide, said the prosecutor.

“There’s no connection between them that I know of,” said Dort in an email.

Wagley was washing his hands at a sink when he was stabbed in the neck and then stabbed several more times, said Dort.

Alvarez was in prison after pleading guilty to grand theft in 2019 of a bicycle, which was a “bait bike” that was the property of the City of San Diego that was placed there by police to deter a series of bicycle thefts, according to Deputy District Attorney Allen Brown.

He was sentenced to 32 months in prison, and he was released from prison 80 days early. Alvarez had failed to report to his post-release community supervision parole officer.