A man interrupted his jury selection by pleading guilty to voluntary manslaughter in the stabbing death of a National City man and is expected to receive 27 years in prison.
Eleazar Mariscal, 35, admitted to aiding the slaying of Eduardo Ortega, Jr., 25, in the 200 block of North Highland Avenue around 11:30 p.m. on April 9, 2016. Ortega was taken to a hospital where he died shortly after midnight.
A warrant for the arrest of Enrique Cruz Pompa, now 20, remains outstanding. He is believed to be in Mexico.
Sentencing was set for May 19 by Chula Vista Superior Court Judge Theodore Weathers. A murder charge was dismissed when he pleaded guilty to manslaughter.
Mariscal also admitted to a gang enhancement charge. He signed a court form that said the slaying “was committed for the benefit or an association with a criminal street gang with the intent to assist in criminal conduct by gang members.”
“I did unlawfully aid and abet the unlawful killing of another person with malice aforethought,” wrote his attorney and Mariscal initialed the court document.
Jury selection started on March 13 and court records say 44 people filed into the courtroom. Over the lunch hour, Mariscal with his attorney, Solomon Rouston, agreed to plead guilty to manslaughter, and the prospective jurors were sent back to the jury lounge.
