A judge sentenced a man to 16 years to life in prison May 6 for deliberately ramming a National City man with his car following an altercation outside a restaurant.
Darius Risberg Watkins, 21, of Spring Valley, was sentenced for killing Jorge Alberto-Rocha Osuna, 26, on June 16, 2014 following an incident outside a McDonald’s restaurant. Watkins and Osuna did not know each other, but there was a confrontation between them and others at the McDonalds drive-thru in Spring Valley.
Someone began 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 and he was crushed by Watkins’ car.
El Cajon Superior Court Judge Daniel Goldstein gave Watkins credit for 691 days in jail. Watkins and his mother spoke. The prosecutor, Will Watkins, who is not related to the defendant, read a letter from the victim’s mother in court.
A jury convicted Darius Watkins Feb. 2 of second-degree murder after 13 hours of deliberations over three days. Osuna died in a hospital two days after he was struck.
