A Point Loma man has pleaded guilty to two counts of first-degree murder in the 2014 fatal shootings of his parents in their Sunset Cliffs home.
Peter David Haynes, now 25, faces a maximum sentence of 100 years to life in state prison for killing David Haynes, 62, and his mother, Lissa Haynes, 61, on Nov. 28, 2014 around 3 a.m. in their Tarento Drive home.
Sentencing was set for June 9 by San Diego Superior Court Judge Laura Halgren. Haynes remains in jail without bail.
With his guilty pleas, Haynes withdrew his insanity plea that his attorney had hoped would be used in a trial. The special circumstance charges of committing multiple murders and lying were dismissed, which could have resulted in Haynes being committed to prison for life without parole.
Haynes will face 25 years to life for each of the murder charges, and would get 50 years consecutively for personally using a firearm in a double homicide. It is likely, though, Haynes will never be granted parole if given a 100-year sentence and may have to serve 85 actual years.
Haynes initialed a court document written by his attorney Mignon Hilts in which he described his guilt. “I unlawfully murdered David and Lissa Haynes by intentionally and personally discharging a firearm thereby causing their deaths, willfully and deliberately with premeditation and malice aforethought,” the statement read.
Haynes had been set for trial on May 8. He spent most of 2015 in a state psychiatric hospital after criminal proceedings were suspended. He returned to San Diego after he was determined to be mentally competent for trial.
According to previous testimony, David Haynes called 911 and told a dispatch officer his son had shot his mother to death and that his son had been diagnosed with schizophrenia. More gunshots were heard on the tape when David Haynes was mortally wounded.
The 911 tape recording was played in the Jan. 12, 2016 preliminary hearing before Halgren.
A pathologist testified that Lissa Haynes was shot first and only once. A bullet to her chest pierced her heart and lung and she died within minutes. David Haynes was shot nine times with six wounds to the back, said the pathologist.
A detective testified there were shell casings found in the garden outside and it was believed Peter Haynes crouched down and shot into the house at both victims. Peter Haynes showed up at the house later and was arrested.