A man who gunned down a woman who had been fighting with his mother in the front yard of a Garden Grove home was sentenced Friday, Oct. 23, to 50 years to life in state prison.
A Santa Ana jury last year found Nathaniel Liscano guilty of first-degree murder with the use of a firearm for the slaying of an unarmed Kellie Louise Nichol in 2016.
During Liscano’s trial, there was no dispute that Nichol, 31, and Liscano’s mother had argued through text messages, that Liscano and his mother drove to the Garden Grove house where Nichol was visiting a friend, and that Liscano, then 19, shot Nichol to death.
Deputy District Attorney Mark Birney told jurors that Liscano asked for Nichol, who walked out of the home and proceeded to fight with Liscano’s mother.
Liscano watched the fight, Birney said, then walked up to Nichol and appeared to exchange words with her before pulling out a gun and shooting her in the jaw and the chest.
Nichol tried to run away, the prosecutor said, but Liscano shot her three more times in the back. One witness testified that Liscano said “Die, (expletive)” to Nichol as he fired the gunshots.
The prosecutor described the shooting as a “completely senseless” killing.
During the trial, Liscano’s attorney, Roger Sheaks, argued that Nichol provoked Liscano and contended the killing occurred in the heat of passion.
Liscano didn’t plan to kill Nichol, the defense attorney told jurors, and had brought the gun for protection, only to use it during a “momentary flash, a volcanic eruption.”
Source: Orange County Register
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