A 21-year-old man entered guilty pleas in connection with the 2015 shooting deaths of two men in their 20s Colina Del Sol neighborhood, a Superior Court official said Monday.
Leiga X. Tauiliili pleaded guilty to two counts of murder and one count of mayhem, according to the court. Deon Fontaine Peterson, 28, and Joseph Anthony Ponder, 26, were shot multiple times about 12:20 a.m. Nov. 1, 2015.
The victims were sitting inside a car parked outside the store on El Cajon Boulevard near 52nd Street, according to San Diego police and Crime Stoppers. A woman who also was in the car suffered a non-life-threatening bullet wound, while a fourth vehicle occupant was not injured.
Although Tauiliili was a juvenile when the crime took place, the District Attorney’s Office tried him as an adult, an official said. A sentencing hearing for Tauiliili is scheduled for 9:30 a.m. on Jan. 10.
— City News Service
