A Chula Vista man has pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter in the beating death of a co-founder of a local car club called the Eminent Society.
Rafael Guadalupe Cabrera, 40, was beaten June 19 in the 900 block of Marina Way in Chula Vista. Cabrera passed away in a hospital on June 21 and he was the car club’s co-founder, which held a fundraiser June 27 to help his family with funeral expenses.
Austin Lee Kirchner, 23, of Chula Vista, pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter and has agreed to accept a stipulated term of 12 years in state prison, said District Attorney spokesman Steve Walker in an e-mail on Dec. 31.
A Chula Vista Superior Court judge set sentencing for Feb. 4. Kirchner remains in the George Bailey Detention Facility without bail.
Kirchner may receive 11 years for manslaughter plus one year for the use of a metal pipe as a deadly weapon in the incident.
A second man, Kevin Haynes, 23, of Chula Vista, has pleaded guilty to being an accessory after the fact. Haynes faces a maximum 3-year term, although the DA’s office will support a sentence up to one year in jail, according to court records.
“I aided Austin Kirchner by driving him from the scene where he committed a felony,” wrote Haynes’ attorney, Shervin Samimi, and Haynes initialed the statement saying it described what he did.
Haynes will be sentenced on Jan. 28. He remains free on $20,000 bond.
Kirchner had been charged with murder. The murder charge was dismissed Dec. 13 after he pleaded guilty to manslaughter.
Cabrera was found unconscious and bleeding from the head after the incident in a parking lot. Kirchner and Haynes fled in a vehicle before police officers arrived, but Chula Vista Police arrested them both on June 27.
Cabrera was one of the founders of Eminent Society that is based in San Diego. They have a Facebook page with photos of the fundraiser for Cabrera and other events they have held. He was a father of three.
