A jury deliberated 13 hours over three days before finding Darius Risberg Watkins, 21, guilty of second-degree murder Feb. 2 when Watkins deliberately rammed the man with his car in La Mesa.
Watkins, of Spring Valley, faces a sentence of 16 years to life in prison for causing the 2014 death of Jorge Alberto-Rocha Osuna, 26, said Deputy District Attorney Will Watkins, who has the same last name as the defendant but is not related to him.
A jury deliberated 13 hours over three days before finding Darius Risberg Watkins, 21, guilty of second-degree murder Feb. 2 when Watkins deliberately rammed the man with his car in La Mesa.
Watkins, of Spring Valley, faces a sentence of 16 years to life in prison for causing the 2014 death of Jorge Alberto-Rocha Osuna, 26, said Deputy District Attorney Will Watkins, who has the same last name as the defendant but is not related to him.
The incident started June 16, 2014 outside a Spring Valley McDonald’s restaurant. Watkins and Osuna did not know each other, but there was a confrontation between them and others at the McDonalds drive through.
Someone was banging on Osuna’s vehicle, which caused him to get out, and a fight occurred between two groups. Watkins followed Osuna to his brother’s home in La Mesa.
Prosecutor Watkins said the defendant deliberately rammed Osuna after he got outside his car. Osuna died two days later. El Cajon Superior Court Judge Daniel Goldstein set sentencing for April 1. Watkins remains in jail.
Alpine couple pleads guilty in death of 19-month-old son
Brett Brown, 29, and Renee Fournier, 28, of Alpine, have both pleaded not guilty to murder and felony child endangerment respectively in the death of Fournier’s 19-month-old son.
The toddler suffered a skull fracture on Jan. 11 and he died Jan. 13. Brown was arrested and charged with murder and child abuse, but sheriff’s deputies arrested Fournier on Jan. 26 for child endangerment.
Deputy District Attorney Chantal de Mauregne said the victim, Lucas Orlando, had leg and arm fractures which were in the state of healing. Fournier was alleged to have not done enough to protect him from Brown, a Navy Corpsman.
Fournier appeared Feb. 3 before El Cajon Superior Court Judge John Thompson and she remains free on $100,000 bond. Both Fournier and Brown, who remains in jail, will next appear in court Feb. 29.
El Cajon “Camera Man” starts sentence
Armando Gonzalez, 47, of El Cajon, surrendered to the Terminal Island federal prison Feb. 5 to start his 21-month sentence for placing a camera in a drain in a women’s bathroom at a Border Patrol building where he once worked as a supervisor.
Gonzalez had been free on bond since his Dec. 14 sentencing as U.S. District Court Judge Roger Benitez let him self-surrender once federal authorities determined where to house him.
Gonzalez was given a parole date of Aug. 6, 2017 at the low security prison in San Pedro. Gonzalez also wrote a check for $1,322 Jan. 22 in restitution to the victims, mostly for therapy, after Benitez determined the amount.
Gonzalez pleaded guilty to making a false statement to a federal officer and seven counts of video voyeurism. He must also complete a sex offender evaluation.
