After a prosecutor described a young man as “truly enamored with guns and extremely dangerous,” a judge sentenced him on Jan. 17 to life in prison without the possibility of parole for killing a 79-year-old man during an attempted carjacking.
The judge also imposed a consecutive term of 56 years to Francisco Xavier Villegas, 24, for killing Jose Quirin as he resisted giving up his car on May 3, 2022.
Quirin was found mortally wounded in the upper torso at 5:15 a.m. at a McDonald’s restaurant parking lot in Pacific Beach where he had driven a short distance from his work. He later died in a hospital.
Quirin had arrived early to work and was waiting in his silver Nissan outside when Villegas confronted him. A jury convicted Villegas of first-degree murder and being a felon in possession of a firearm on Nov. 20, 2024, after 1 1/2 days of deliberations.
“It was the defendant’s choice to pull a gun out,” said San Diego Superior Court Judge Albert Harutunian III. “He didn’t have to. There is a consequence to that. This is close range.”
Harutunian ordered Villegas to pay $5,783.94 for the victim’s funeral and burial expenses along with a $440 fine.
Jurors also found true a special circumstance that affirmed he murdered an attempted carjacking, which qualified Villegas to receive a life sentence without parole.
Deputy District Attorney Paul Eacret read the letter from the victim’s son, Sinhue Quirin, aloud because the son lived in Los Angeles and couldn’t attend the sentencing as he was displaced because of the wildfires.
“My father was the hardest working person I knew. He taught me always to work hard, always take pride in what you do… and make an honest living,” said Sinhue Quirin.
“Especially difficult knowing that he lost his life to a senseless act of violence while he was about to do what he always did – work to provide,” said his son.
“This has impacted my mother emotionally and mentally. She fears what happened to my father will happen to her,” said the son.
“We feel strongly that everyone needs to be held accountable for their actions and we stand by the court’s decision,” said Sinhue Quirin.
Harutunian noted that Villegas had served 989 days in jail since his arrest. After the shooting, Quirin got on the San Diego Trolley, and security cameras captured his image and led police to arrest him.
Villegas pleaded guilty to assault with a knife upon a 7-Eleven clerk, robbery of a skateboard from an acquaintance, and battery upon a girlfriend in 2020. According to court records, he was sentenced to a year in jail for those offenses.
