A drunk driver who killed a woman after she was returning from an evening walk at Cowles Mountain was sentenced April 19 to 15 years to life in prison for second-degree murder.
Joshua Daniel Taylor, 39, of La Mesa, was sentenced by San Diego Superior Court Judge Michael Groch for causing the death of Rocio Leamon, 38, on Aug. 13, 2015, at the intersection of Navajo Road and Golfcrest Drive at 6:30 p.m.
A drunk driver who killed a woman after she was returning from an evening walk at Cowles Mountain was sentenced April 19 to 15 years to life in prison for second-degree murder.
Joshua Daniel Taylor, 39, of La Mesa, was sentenced by San Diego Superior Court Judge Michael Groch for causing the death of Rocio Leamon, 38, on Aug. 13, 2015, at the intersection of Navajo Road and Golfcrest Drive at 6:30 p.m.
“I am truly deeply sorry for your loss,” said Taylor, wiping away tears to the victim’s family. “It is something I will never forgive myself for and I don’t expect all of you to either.”
“I’m sorry you’re here today and I’m sorry that I’m here today and I really just want my mom back, but I’ll never get her back,” said Alexander Leamon, her teen-age son, tearfully, who added that he forgave Taylor.
Groch gave Taylor credit for 251 days in jail. Deputy District Attorney Steve Schott said, “He has to do all 15 years” before he can be considered for parole. Because he pleaded guilty to second-degree murder, Taylor can be held for life as the governor often decides when parole can be granted.
Taylor was convicted of drunk driving in 1996 and 2000. His blood/alcohol level in this incident was 23, nearly three times the legal limit. Witnesses said they saw him throw a vodka bottle out his pick-up truck after he struck Leamon.
“Rocio’s murder has turned our family upside down,” said her husband, Victor Leamon. “How many people have to die and go through pain and loss until we realize that we need to be harder on drunk driving?”
Getaway driver sentenced in connection with La Mesa robbery
The getaway driver in a La Mesa robbery was sentenced April 19 to one year in jail on condition of three years probation.
Katrina Frederickson, 24, was released from jail after she was given credit for 308 days already served. El Cajon Superior Court Judge Daniel Goldstein ordered her to pay restitution.
A woman was accosted on Nov. 5, 2015 in the parking lot of Toys R Us, at 8790 Grossmont Drive in La Mesa. She held on to her purse until Dante Orlando Bahena fired a stun gun, 19, who grabbed the purse and escaped in a car.
Frederickson pleaded guilty to robbery, and Bahena pleaded guilty to all counts which included robbery, identity theft, burglary of stores where other people’s credit cards were used, auto theft, and grand theft.
Bahena will be sentenced June 15. He faces a maximum sentence of eight years and eight months, but may be sentenced to two years in prison, said the prosecutor. Bahena remains in jail.
El Cajon man gets probation for video voyeurism
Delwen Lamar Sutton, 42, of El Cajon, was placed on three years probation April 19 by a federal judge for video voyeurism on a Navy ship where he worked as a civilian merchant marine.
Sutton pleaded guilty to taking photos with his cell phone and other devices of women changing clothes on the U.S. Naval Ship Kanawha while off Italy in 2013. U.S. District Court Judge Ruben Brooks ordered no jail time.
Sailors discovered Sutton had bent louvers on stateroom doors to allow him to take photos of nude or partially nude women. He has since been in therapy.
