A judge on Dec. 2 ordered a young man to stand trial for murder in the death of a 79-year-old man who was found mortally wounded on Mission Bay Drive after he resisted giving up his car.
The victim, Jose Quirin, was found at a McDonald’s restaurant parking lot in Pacific Beach on May 3 at 5:15 a.m. where he had driven after being shot in the upper torso. He later died at a hospital.
Francisco Xavier Villegas, 22, was also ordered to stand trial for the special circumstance of murder during an attempted carjacking and possession of a firearm by a felon. If he is convicted of first-degree murder, Villegas would be sentenced to life in prison without parole.
Quirin told police he was seated in his silver Nissan vehicle while parked near some businesses when a man apparently tried to carjack him around 5 a.m. and shot him through the window.
Paul Ely, 33, testified he befriended Villegas when Villegas appeared near some buildings on May 3 around 1 a.m. off Morena Boulevard where Ely camps out as he is homeless.
Ely said Villegas was on foot because his car crashed when the hood went up and broke the windshield. Villegas told him he really wanted to get a car and showed him a firearm that he said he might use in order to steal someone’s car.
“He showed me the gun. I was trying to talk him out of it,” said Ely. “It didn’t seem like a good idea.”
“They’re going to fight for their car,” Ely said he told Villegas.
Ely said Villegas told him he realized a person “would feel bad” if he stole their car.
A surveillance camera video of two people walking near some buildings was played in court by Deputy District Attorney Michael Reilly and Ely said he thought he recognized himself on that video.
Villegas was arrested on a probation violation on May 4 at a traffic stop. San Diego Police officers testified they saw a photo on Villegas’ cellphone that showed him holding a firearm, which is a violation of probation conditions.
San Diego Police Detective Geoffrey DeCesari said Villegas’ DNA was found on the door handle of the Nissan vehicle driven by Quirin.
DeCesari told San Diego Superior Court Judge Theodore Weathers that he informed Villegas that Quirin had died from the gunshot, which surprised him.
DeCesari said Villegas admitted to shooting Quirin within seven minutes after the interview started and said he had remorse.
Villegas told detectives where the gun could be located and detective Michael Giddens testified it was found and seized at his father’s garage in San Ysidro. Villegas also lived with his father at the time.
The attorneys submitted the case to Weathers without argument and the judge ruled there was probable cause for him to stand trial on all charges.
Villegas has pleaded not guilty and will get a trial date set at his next hearing on Dec. 19. He remains in the George Bailey Detention Facility without bail.
