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| Thursday, Jul 10 2008 11:40 AM
Last Updated: Friday, Jul 11 2008 8:00 AM
A Kern County man was sentenced to 21 years in state prison Thursday, more than six years after shooting to death a teenager at a Bakersfield billiards hall.
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Francisco Bello Benitez in 2002.
The first-degree murder trial of Francisco Bello Benitez, 25, ended abruptly in May when the defendant pleaded no contest to voluntary manslaughter in connection with the March 9, 2002, killing of 18-year-old Enrique “Henry” Ortiz.
At Benitez’s sentencing Thursday, defense attorney Michael R. Gardina and prosecutor Felicia Nagle had little to add to their written filings. But the victim’s mother, Mary Ann Ortiz chose address the court — and Benitez.
“I want to let the court know he (Benitez) took a beautiful person away from us,” she said. “I just want to ask him why.”
At that point, Kern County Superior Court Judge Louis P. Etcheverry interjected.
“I can’t force him to answer that today, unfortunately,” Etcheverry told the still-grieving mother.
“I want him to know how much he hurt my family,” Ms. Ortiz continued. “This is the way God wanted it to be, I guess ... but one day there will be real justice done.”
The victim reportedly went to Bakersfield Billiards that night because his usual pool hall was crowded. Police determined the shooting stemmed from a fight the men had had about three months earlier.
Benitez was named as a suspect shortly after the killing, but he wasn’t captured until five years later during a routine traffic stop in Arizona.
When asked outside the courtroom whether she felt the sentence was appropriate, Nagle said she couldn’t answer. It’s impossible, she said, to weigh the prison sentence against the loss of a human life.