‘He killed my baby in broad daylight.’ Fresno man convicted in shooting death walks free
A Fresno County Superior Court judge and the family of Michael Daniels lashed out at Daniel’s convicted killer Friday — calling the slaying heinous and cold-blooded.
Judge Jeff Hamilton told Silbiano Madrigal, 20, during a Friday sentencing hearing he was extremely lucky a jury last month found him guilty of involuntary manslaughter and not first degree murder in Daniels’ shooting death.
Madrigal was charged with fatally shooting the 26-year-old outside of Zack’s Market in the 800 block of East California Avenue on Feb. 9, 2017.
The two men along with several others were involved in an altercation in the market’s parking lot.
Hamilton sentenced Madrigal to four years in prison.
But Madrigal won’t do any time behind bars. He’s already spent four years waiting for his trial at the Fresno County jail. The judge had no choice but to let him out of jail after the involuntary manslaughter verdict on June 16.
“Just because you get to walk out of here does not mean that what you did is any less heinous,” Hamilton said. “And make no mistake you have an opportunity to change your life, unlike the individual you killed in cold blood.”
Madrigal spoke briefly during his sentencing. He offered an apology to Daniels’s family. “I am sorry for what they are going through and hopefully they can forgive me one of these days,” he said. “I wish I could change everything from the past.”
Daniel’s mother Cheryl Hilliard said she was at a loss for words when it came to talking about her son. “I miss my son,” she said.
She was also angry the Madrigal will not have to go to prison. “I just don’t think that is fair,” she said. “I will never get my son back. I don’t think four years is justice. He killed my baby in broad daylight.”
Madrigal’s attorney Gerald Schwab Jr. argued that his client felt scared after the confrontation and was in the backseat of a vehicle with a loaded handgun when Daniels approached the car.
Schwab said Madrigal, who was 17 at the time, was afraid Daniels was going to get inside the car and hurt him. Madrigal fired one shot from a .22 caliber handgun, hitting Daniels in the head.
Daniels’s mother saw it differently. She believes Madrigal was waiting for her son.
“He wasn’t scared, he was sitting in the backseat waiting, they were trying to ambush my son,” she said. “They took my firstborn from me.”
This story was originally published July 24, 2021 at 5:00 AM.
