A Chula Vista man who fatally beat the co-founder of a local car club was sentenced Monday to 12 years in state prison.
Rafael Guadalupe Cabrera, 40, co-founded the Eminent Society car club and was beaten June 19 in a parking lot in the 900 block of Marina Way in Chula Vista. He died June 21, 2018 in a hospital.
Wearing jail clothes and handcuffed, Austin Lee Kirchner, 23, said nothing before Chula Vista Superior Court Judge Francis Devaney sentenced him on his guilty plea to voluntary manslaughter.
Devaney imposed 11 years for manslaughter and added one year for Kirchner using a deadly weapon, described as a big metal pipe, in the slaying.
Deputy District Attorney Patrick Ojeil said Kirchner and Cabrera were strangers to each other before the 8:15 p.m. encounter. Ojeil said the metal pipe was actually a possession of the victim, and Kirchner took it away from him.
Kirchner struck Cabrera at least three times in the head, leaving him bloodied and unconscious. A friend of Kirchner’s, Kevin Haynes, 23, of Chula Vista, drove Kirchner away from the scene.
Haynes pleaded guilty to being an accessory after the fact. On Jan. 28, Devaney placed Haynes on three years probation and gave him credit for previously serving 12 days in jail before he posted bond.
Haynes signed a court document saying he had driven Kirchner from the scene while knowing that Kirchner had committed a felony.
Kirchner was given credit for serving 256 days in jail and was fined $3,824. No claim for restitution has been processed, but Devaney said he would hold a restitution hearing should a claim for damages be filed.
A murder charge was dismissed against Kirchner after he pleaded guilty Dec. 13 to voluntary manslaughter. A number of Kirchner’s family members were present for the sentencing.
