An El Cajon man who was cleared by a jury in the hot car death of his infant son in 2013 will be sentenced April 10 following his guilty pleas to conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine and possession of the drug with intent to distribute.
Israel “Izzy” Soto, 33, faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years in federal prison and a maximum sentence of life imprisonment, according to federal court records.
An El Cajon man who was cleared by a jury in the hot car death of his infant son in 2013 will be sentenced April 10 following his guilty pleas to conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine and possession of the drug with intent to distribute.
Israel “Izzy” Soto, 33, faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years in federal prison and a maximum sentence of life imprisonment, according to federal court records.
The same jury that acquitted Soto of felony child endangerment found his wife, Jessica Quezada, 26, guilty. She was also convicted of methamphetamine possession and possessing drug paraphernalia.
El Cajon Superior Court Judge Patricia Cookson sentenced Quezada to 10 years in state prison in September 2015. Quezada also pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute meth in the federal case with Soto and she was sentenced to 27 months in prison in 2015.
The couple’s 4-month-old son, Giovanni, was left overnight in the car outside their N. Mollison apartment and was rushed to a hospital on July 27, 2013 where he died. The parents had returned home from a store and took their other three children inside the apartment, but forgot about the infant.
The three children were later placed with a relative of Quezada, as both parents have been in federal or state custody since the infant’s death.
U.S. District Court Judge Michael Anello signed a forfeiture order against Soto that awards the $2,753 cash found by authorities to the U.S. government. There were many others who were charged with Soto and most of them have already been sentenced.
Pine Valley man pleads guilty to voluntary manslaughter
A Pine Valley man has pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter in the stabbing death of a housemate with a Samurai sword and he is expected to receive a 6-year prison term.
A murder charge was dismissed Feb. 8 against Douglas Michael Kell, 21, in the Jan. 21, 2016, slaying of Donnie Chip, 28, outside the property they both shared in the 8000 block of Valley View Trail.
Deputy District Attorney John Cross said both sides had reached a sentencing agreement for a “stipulated 6-year prison term” at his March 13 sentencing in El Cajon Superior Court.
The prosecutor said both men lived on the property and had been drinking alcohol. They got into an argument and “it turned into a wrestling, fighting match,” said Cross.
Both men had superficial injuries and they stopped fighting. Minutes later, Kell allegedly attacked him with a 3-foot Samurai sword that he had stored in his bedroom, Cross said.
A neighbor said Chip on the ground at 5:28 p.m. and called sheriff’s deputies. Chip died at the scene from trauma to his torso, the sheriff’s department said.
Kell remains in the George Bailey Detention Facility without bail.
Woman pleads guilty to attempted murder of pregnant El Cajon woman
A woman pleaded guilty Feb. 22 to attempted murder of a pregnant woman in El Cajon who was dating the woman’s ex-boyfriend.
Shagirah Akila Joyce, 29, also pleaded guilty to assault with a deadly weapon and residential burglary in the May 16, 2016, incident in the home of the victim in the 1200 block of Petree Street.
Deputy District Attorney Will Watkins said Joyce will face a maximum sentence of 15 years and four months in state prison. Joyce remains in the Las Colinas Women’s Detention Facility on $1 million bail.
El Cajon Superior Court Judge Daniel Goldstein set sentencing for April 26. Joyce admitted she caused great bodily injury to the woman who was stabbed in the forearm, shoulder, and face. The unborn child was not hurt.
El Cajon Police arrested Joyce near her home in the 200 block of W. Park Ave. in El Cajon.
