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A Salt Lake City man who pleaded guilty to a manslaughter charge for fatally shooting a father-to-be during an argument at a 2012 party will spend up to 20 years in prison for the crime, a judge ordered Thursday.
Third District Court Judge Randall Skanchy ordered 24-year-old Phillip James Lucero to serve an indeterminate prison term of two to 20 years for the shooting death of 20-year-old Valentin Sigala, Jr.
Manslaughter is a second-degree felony which normally carries a penalty of up to 15 years, but the punishment was enhanced because Lucero had a 2008 felony conviction and was barred from possessing a gun because he was on probation.
"I'd like to give my sincere apologies to the friends and family of Valentin," Lucero told the court before being sentenced, adding that shooting the other man "wasn't my plan."
Charging documents say Lucero, who was also known by the alias "Philthy," and Sigala were at west Salt Lake City residence near 1000 South and 1400 West on Oct. 28, 2012, when an argument broke out between several people. During the fight, Lucero pulled out semi-automatic pistol and shot Sigala once in the chest. A friend picked Sigala up from the floor and rushed him to a hospital where he later died, the documents say.
On Thursday Lucero's attorneys, acknowledged Lucero's poor judgment, but characterized the shooting as a tragic accident and said the defendant's intention in firing the weapon was to stop a fight, not commit a murder. At no time has Lucero claimed he fired in self-defense, his attorney Neal Hamilton said.
"Philip fired a warning shot, he wanted [the fight] to end and he was absolutely reckless in what he did," said Hamilton, calling Lucero a good kid who is sincere in his remorse. "We believe it was an accident."
Salt Lake County prosecutors and Sigala's family members, took issue with Hamilton's suggestion that the shooting could have been accidental.
"A warning shot is into the air, not at someone," Francisco Sigala, 21, told the judge.
Since the shooting, Valentin Sigala's family lives daily with the horrible reality that he will never return home, said the victim's sister, Maritza Sigala. The impact may be greatest on her 2-year-old nephew, who was born about five months after the shooting, and will never know his father, she said.
"That void won't get filled," Maritza Sigala, 25, said. "It's really devastating."
Skanchy said Lucero's choice in taking a gun to a party created a tragic set of circumstances that couldn't be ignored, despite the many letters he'd read which characterized the young man as a decent human being who since the shooting has been working to make positive changes in himself.
"I'll ask you to do what you've already started to do," Skanchy said. "Make the best of the circumstances that have been placed in front of you."
Skanchy also revoked Lucero's probation on the unrelated 2008 case — an aggravated assault that involved threatening another's life with a gun. Lucero's will now serve up to five years in prison for that crime. Skanchy said the term will be concurrent to his sentence in the manslaughter case.