The driver in a drive-by shooting that left a young woman dead outside a La Jolla party in 2019 was sentenced on Sept. 9 to 24 years in state prison.
Nina Silver, 20, was standing outside with a group at 12:30 a.m. on June 23, 2019, off Culver Street near Pearl Street in La Jolla. There were 60-80 people standing around outside when shots were fired into the crowd.
Bullets were fired from a passenger in a sedan driving by that struck four people in the crowd, and the one that struck Silver was to her back. Her spine was severed by the bullet which also caused lung damage, according to a sentencing report.
Her injury was so damaging that Nina Silver died at 1:22 a.m. at a hospital, less than an hour after she was hit. She was not the target, said Deputy District Attorney Ted Fiorito.
Malik Joshua Campbell, now 25, was the driver and he appeared Monday before San Diego Superior Court Judge Eugenia Eyherabide, who said the lives of the survivors and families of victims are “forever changed.”
Eyherabide said she realized it was just “too hard” to expect survivors and families of victims to speak at the sentencing.
Silver’s mother told a sentencing official she did not want to appear or speak at the sentencing because “it did not matter what she said.” Referring to Campbell and the gunman, Silver’s mother said “They chose this life.”
Sentencing for the gunman, Odyssey Sellers Carrillo, now 23, was delayed Monday until Nov. 8. Carrillo is expected to receive 35 years in prison and remains in jail.
Eyherabide ordered Campbell to pay $12,221 in restitution to the victims’ families and gave him credit for serving approximately 2,900 days in jail.
Campbell pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter, three counts of assault with a deadly weapon on the other people wounded, and admitted it was done to benefit a criminal street gang.
Tahjay Wilson, 23, was shot in his arm, but the bullet traveled into his chest and then he struck his head on the ground. Wilson testified he had several broken ribs and a collapsed lung from the shooting.
Erick Buchanan, 19, was wounded in his left jaw that left fractures, and doctors had wired his mouth shut. He was only able to eat liquids and soft foods for a while.
Drew Benson, 19, was shot in the arm and had difficulty getting to the hospital because of the confusion and panic after the shootings. Someone fired a gun into the air to clear a path for Benson to be taken to the hospital, according to a sentencing report.
The murder weapon was later found in a canyon near the Allied Gardens Recreation Center in July of 2019, and Carrillo’s DNA was found on it, the report said.
Carrillo is facing 35 years because he also pleaded guilty to attempted murder and admitted he caused great bodily injuries to two people in the crowd, as well as voluntary manslaughter in Silver’s death.
An inmate told sentencing officials that Campbell forced him to engage in sexual relations in jail in 2020. A sentencing official noted there was no physical exam done of the victim and no charges were filed against Campbell, who denied the assault took place.
