MAN GETS 40 YEARS TO LIFE FOR STABBING MARINE TO DEATH
A man who fatally stabbed a Camp Pendleton Marine during a 2017 Gaslamp Quarter brawl was sentenced Thursday to 40 years to life in state prison.
Jose Oscar Esqueda, 41, was convicted of first-degree murder in the death of Ryan Harris, 21, who was stabbed in his throat on Dec. 29, 2017.
Another Marine suffered stab wounds to his chest and back during the fight with Esqueda, but survived.
Esqueda and co-defendant Jeff Shai Holliday were tried by separate juries in San Diego Superior Court earlier this year. Holliday was convicted of involuntary manslaughter and sentenced to 19 years in prison. Prosecutors said Holliday threw a punch that sparked the fatal melee.
At the sentencing hearing Thursday, Judge Jeffrey Fraser said the defendants were “solely responsible” for what happened. “There was no purpose in the killing. None. Senseless,” the judge said.
Deputy District Attorney Christopher Lawson told jurors that Esqueda and Holliday were wandering the Gaslamp Quarter around 1 a.m., looking for victims, a pattern the prosecutor said was exhibited in a pair of hold-ups the men took part in earlier in the year.
The prosecutor said the men cased the downtown area before settling on a man who was by himself at Island and Sixth avenues.
As seen on surveillance footage, Esqueda and the man exchanged words, after which Holliday punched the man in the head from behind. Four of the man's fellow Marines, including Harris, ran over to intervene. Harris and another Marine were stabbed.
At Esqueda's sentencing hearing, Lawson said Harris' time in the Marines was nearly done and he was seeking a career in law enforcement.
“But because of the defendant's choice on the night of this tragedy to go out and terrorize, to hunt for a victim, for no other reason than to inflict pain and suffering ... because of those actions and those choices, we'll have to wonder what Ryan's life could have been,” Lawson said.
Among Harris' loved ones who spoke at the hearing were his grandfather, Larry Holt, who said Harris' bedroom remains at his home “the way it was, waiting for him to come home.''
“Our house will never be the same. My heart will never be the same,” Holt said. “I haven't enough time on this world to recover what I've lost.”
Harris' mother, Kelly Weaver, said “even good memories with Ryan still kill me.” She told Esqueda: “How dare you take his life. You had no right.”
Esqueda said he court that he could not express “any amount of apologies” to the family members that would take their pain away. He said he would use his prison time to make adjustments and “maybe become a citizen that I need to be.”