Man who killed ex-boss in 2011 sentenced

A man who fatally shot his ex-boss at the victim’s Point Loma auto repair shop more than a decade ago was sentenced Friday to 19 years to life in state prison.

Nicolas Brito Rosales, 57, was convicted by a San Diego jury of second-degree murder for killing 63-yearold Jalal “Joe” Abou on April 19, 2011.

On that morning, Abou — an Iraq native and father of three, who lived in Rancho San Diego — was found lying in a parking lot at his Rosecrans Street business, Joe’s Auto Repair. He died at the scene.

Witnesses told investigators they had seen a man parked near the auto repair business in a dark green sedan with primer spots on it prior to the shooting and spotted him driving away immediately afterward.

At the time of the shooting, Rosales had not been working at the victim’s business for about six months, though the circumstances behind how he left the job were unclear.

Rosales was arrested in Mexico and extradited to the U.S. in late 2017, but was ruled incompetent to stand trial the following year, meaning he was found to be unable to understand the charges against him and assist his attorney at trial.

He was also ruled incompetent at a bench trial in 2019, but was found competent to stand trial last year.