A man on parole with a lengthy record has been sentenced to four years in state prison for shooting another man to death in East Village. Another man who stabbed the victim remains at large.
Willie Tillis, 53, was shot in the back in the area of 14th Street and Imperial Avenue on Sept. 17 around 7:39 p.m. Police officers found Tillis lying on the sidewalk and he was taken to a hospital where he died an hour later.
Alex Alonzo Bailey, 54, pleaded guilty to possession of the firearm that killed Tillis and that it was unlawful to possess it because he is a felon.
Deputy District Attorney Seralyn Fields said Bailey was observed on surveillance camera footage firing a handgun, proving he possessed a firearm, according to his probation report.
Bailey was arrested the next day by police while he was in a van. The van’s driver told police she and Bailey were at the scene of the shooting the night before. The driver told an officer she went to a liquor store with a friend and the shooting occurred while she was in the store, the probation report said.
Another witness told police he heard gunshots and saw three people fighting over an object.
In a press release, police said the only description of the person who may have done the stabbing was a Black or Hispanic male in dark or blue clothing who fled the scene.
San Diego Superior Court Judge Rachel Cano imposed four years and denied probation. She fined him $370 and he was given credit for 124 days in jail. Bailey was on parole at the time for assault with a deadly weapon.
In a video interview with probation officials, Bailey said he was evicted from his apartment in August, so he spent a lot of time walking around Downtown. He did not feel safe, so he acquired a gun for safety reasons a few days before the incident, according to the interview.
Bailey said he could not remember the circumstances of the shooting. Bailey was also previously convicted of committing several robberies and grand theft. He has served four terms in prison. Bailey was found in violation of his parole in three of the four cases and was sent back to prison frequently, according to court records.
Bailey will be transferred soon to prison, but for now, he remains in central jail without bail.
