(PresidentialWire.com)- A California man who shot and killed a woman during an argument over the 2016 election was sentenced to 35 years to life in prison last Monday.
In 2017, John Kevin McVoy, Jr., 40, a musician in a garage band, was at the home of bandmate Victor Garcia in Long Beach, California when the conversation around a kitchen table veered to the topic of the 2016 election. McVoy admitted he voted for Hillary, Victor Garcia pointed to the door and told him to get the “F” out of his house.
McVoy pulled a revolver, shot Garcia in the head, then shot and killed Garcia’s wife Susan who was holding the couple’s 2-year-child on her lap.
Victor Garcia survived but spent several months in a coma and underwent two brain surgeries in which metal plates were attached to his skull.
The prosecution produced receipts that showed McVoy purchased the revolver the day before he went to Garcia’s house. The other members of the band testified there was no scheduled band practice for that day, so McVoy’s reason for being there was not related to the band.
McVoy’s defense attorney, Ninaz Saffari, described the shooting as self-defense, arguing it was a culmination of multiple threats of violence from Victor Garcia.
During the trial, McVoy testified in his own defense, claiming he had tried to calm Garcia down, but Garcia, after making a racist remark, grabbed an object off the table and charged at him with his arm raised. So McVoy shot him in self-defense.
The defense said McVoy shot Susan Garcia when the gun went off accidentally during a struggle between McVoy and fellow bandmate Miguel Rea.
The prosecution disputed the defense claim, arguing that if Rea had struggled to get the gun from McVoy, there would have been gun powder residue on his hand when the weapon discharged, but there was not.
While the jurors convicted McVoy in the murder of Susan Garcia, they acquitted him of two counts of attempted murder for shooting Victor Garcia, and one count of child endangerment.
Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Laura Laeseck said McVoy was the one who turned this situation violent, adding “there was no imminent danger at the time.”
