A Pacific Beach man received 13 years in prison on Feb. 6 for killing architect Laura Shinn while he was driving while high on drugs, but his parents have stepped up and paid $50,000 for architect scholarships in the victim’s name.
Attorney Joshua Price, who represents Adam David Milavetz, 39, told San Diego Superior Court Judge Rachel Cano the $50,000 scholarship “has been paid.”
Deputy District Attorney Kelsey Hollander said the parents offered to pay $50,000 out of their own money for scholarships and this was very unusual for it to be part of the plea negotiations.
“They wanted to do it,” said the prosecutor.
Price said in court that Adam Milavetz has no assets, but his parents, Barry and Judy Milavetz, were in the courtroom audience.
The Laura Shinn Diversity in Architecture Scholarship is granted to high school students, community college students and post-graduate students pursuing degree programs at accredited architecture schools.
Shinn, 57, was riding her bicycle to work at San Diego State University on Pershing Drive at 7:30 a.m. on July 20, 2021 when Adam Milavetz’s car struck her from behind.
Witnesses told police that Milavetz did pull over, but he got out and threw a bag over a fence, which was later recovered. It contained needles and drugs. Milavetz didn’t pick up all of his stuff and police found used syringes and drugs in his car.
“I never got to say goodbye to her, to say ‘I love you’ for the last time,” said Steve Shinn, of his wife of 34 years. “I’ve lost my wife, my soulmate, my best friend. Her sentence was permanent.”
Steve Shinn told the judge his dog Tyler waited at the door for his wife for two weeks and now sleeps on her pillow. They had no children, and he mentioned her parents had died 20 years ago.
He said it was an unusual time in his life now because it is the first time he has ever lived alone.
“She always smiled. She was going to a job she loved,” said Shinn. “She promoted her beliefs in her work. She enjoyed cycling.
“We all lost a friend, a mentor, an urban planner, and a community advocate,” said Shinn, who thanked various people, such as a nurse who stopped to help his wife after the collision and a witness who told police about seeing Milavetz throw a bag over a fence.
Milavetz pleaded guilty to gross vehicular manslaughter while impaired by drugs, and possession of methamphetamine, fentanyl, and narcotics paraphernalia. In exchange, a second-degree murder charge was dismissed on Jan. 5.
Milavetz also pleaded guilty to driving the wrong way on a highway three weeks before the fatality in which he had been released on bail. He had been working as a driver for a marijuana dispensary and had a second job as a motel worker.
Cano ordered Milavetz to pay $6,167 in funeral expenses and $720 in fines. Milavetz stood in jail clothes in a custody unit and said nothing. He received credit for serving 292 days in jail.
