A man who fatally shot his ex-girlfriend’s 21-year-old son in El Cajon and then got into a standoff with police at a La Mesa hotel was sentenced Thursday to 35 years to life in state prison.
George Louis Garcia, 44, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in connection with the Aug. 18, 2020, slaying of Fabian Cerda. He also pleaded guilty to the attempted murder of another man, which prosecutors say happened two days after Cerda was killed.
Cerda was shot on Main Street during an argument then died en route to a hospital, according to El Cajon police.
The motive for the killing remains unknown.
At his sentencing hearing in El Cajon Superior Court, Garcia told Cerda’s family and friends in attendance: “I wish I had the answers to tell you guys why, why it happened. But I can’t even answer that myself. … I hate myself for what I did.”
Nearly a week after the killing, Garcia got into a two-hour standoff in his car with police in the parking lot of the Best Western Plus La Mesa hotel on Murray Drive. During the incident, he threw two guns out of his car and then surrendered.
A prosecutor said in court that one of those guns was used to kill Cerda.