A 28-year-old documented gang member pleaded guilty Tuesday to voluntary manslaughter for his role in the fatal shooting last year of a man in Logan Heights.
Marko Johnson, who also pleaded guilty to shooting at an inhabited dwelling, is expected to be sentenced to 29 years in prison on May 13.
According to Deputy District Attorney Robert Eacret, Johnson admitted that he aided and abetted in the killing of Jason Coney by “acting as a driver knowing that others who he drove intended to, and did, in fact, discharge a firearm” at Coney.
A second 28-year-old man, Antoine Heratio Brown, is charged with murder and personal discharge of a firearm in the March 10, 2015, killing. Brown’s trial is scheduled to begin April 11.
San Diego police Officer Luis Carbajal testified last year that witnesses reported hearing multiple gunshots and people running from a Logan Heights neighborhood before the 28-year-old victim was found gravely wounded in a front yard.
Carbajal testified that he arrived on the scene about 9:15 p.m. and was flagged down by several people, who directed him to the victim lying on his back. Coney was conscious and was moaning and groaning, but later died at a hospital, the officer testified.
Eacret alleged Brown was a passenger in a car traveling through rival gang territory on Ocean View Boulevard when he fired into a crowd.
The prosecutor said the victim was shot as he ran from the scene. Eacret alleged that Brown hid behind a car and tried to shoot Coney again before fleeing.
–City News Service
