A Pine Valley man was sentenced March 13 to six years in prison for stabbing a friend to death with a Samurai sword after they both had been fighting and drinking alcohol.
Douglas Michael Kell, 22, pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter in the Jan. 21, 2016 death of Donnie Chipp, 28, that occurred outside their home they shared on Valley View Trail.
A Pine Valley man was sentenced March 13 to six years in prison for stabbing a friend to death with a Samurai sword after they both had been fighting and drinking alcohol.
Douglas Michael Kell, 22, pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter in the Jan. 21, 2016 death of Donnie Chipp, 28, that occurred outside their home they shared on Valley View Trail.
El Cajon Superior Court Judge Daniel Goldstein ordered Kell to pay $3,345 to the crime victim’s compensation fund for the victim’s funeral expenses. He was fined $10,224.
Angela McIntyre—who is Kell’s sister—was also Chipp’s boyfriend at the time. “I’m trying to make sense of it. I have so many questions,” she told her brother in court.
“All of us are sad. I want to say I forgive you completely, but I want to talk to you,” said McIntyre. “Forgiveness will come when we talk. Stay safe. Be a better person. I love you.”
Deputy District Attorney John Cross said the men had been drinking alcohol and got into a wrestling/fighting match outside after an argument. It ended, but minutes later Kell came outside with a 3-foot Samurai sword that he had stored in his bedroom and stabbed Chipp in the torso at 5:28 p.m.
Sheeba Chipp, the victim’s mother, told Kell she didn’t understand why he killed her son because she thought they were best friends.
“We’re heartbroken. My son is gone. You are still here,” said Sheeba Chipp. “You’ve taken my son, a part of my life, my heart.”
“I have forgiven you. I have prayed for you. I hope you find God,” said the victim’s mother. “I hope you have a lot of time to think what you’ve done wrong.”
Cross said Kell would have to serve 85 percent of the six-year term. Kell was given credit for already serving 479 days in jail.
“He wants to accept the forgiveness which has been offered,” said Kell’s attorney, Gilbert Geilim. “He’s anxious to move on.”
Kell didn’t say anything in court. A murder charge was dropped when he pleaded guilty to manslaughter.
Man’s trial to be set in Spring Valley beating death
Sean Robert Kennedy, 46, will get a trial date set on March 23 for the beating death of an acquaintance at a Spring Valley 7-Eleven store.
A murder charge was dismissed at Kennedy’s preliminary hearing on March 9 and he was ordered to stand trial for voluntary manslaughter in the June 23, 2016, death of Billy Wayne Taylor, 54.
Sheriff’s deputies responded June 21 to a 9:35 p.m. 911 call that two men were fighting at the 7-Eleven store at 2840 Bancroft Drive. Deputies found Taylor with visible head and face injuries and he was unresponsive in the parking lot.
Taylor was transported to a hospital where he was declared brain dead two days later, according to testimony. Both Kennedy and Taylor knew each other, but a motive for the fight isn’t known. Both lived in the area.
Kennedy has pleaded not guilty and remains in the George Bailey Detention Facility on $1 million bail. He was on probation at the time for felony assault with another Spring Valley man in 2015, according to court records.
Lakeside man sentenced in gang violence case
Michael Ricardo Riordan, 42, of Lakeside, has been sentenced to 11 years in state prison for shooting a man in the leg in a gang related incident in El Cajon.
Riordan pleaded guilty to assault with a deadly weapon and admitted he fired a shot for the benefit of a criminal street gang, according to court records. The incident started Oct. 28, 2016 at 12:30 a.m. when he got into an argument at a business in El Cajon.
Riordan and one of the employees began fighting. Other employees tried to intervene and the fight stopped, according to El Cajon Police. Riordan walked to a vehicle across the street and got a handgun.
Riordan returned to the business and fired two shots towards a group of five employees. One bullet hit a man in his left knee, and he was hospitalized. Another worker was taken to the hospital for injuries in the fight.
Riordan identified himself as a gang member and allegedly threatened them before fleeing. Detectives with the East County Regional Gang Task Force identified him and he was located in a vehicle in Lakeside on Nov. 1.
With the assistant of a sheriff’s helicopter and two San Diego Harbor Police officers, a traffic stop attempted. Riordan refused to yield and this resulted in a three mile pursuit into Lemon Grove. A small child was nearly hit when Riordan stopped at the residence of someone he knew.
Riordan left his vehicle and briefly fought with officers before he was tased and then arrested. A handgun was found in the car, according to El Cajon Police.
He has prior convictions for negligent discharge of a firearm, and two counts of felon in possession of a firearm. He has been in prison before. El Cajon Superior Court Daniel Goldstein denied probation and fined Riordan $3,524.
