‘If I could take everything back I would.’ Man apologizes for Fresno State student’s killing
The second man arrested in the 2016 killing of a 25-year-old Fresno State engineering student was sentenced Monday to five years and four months for his involvement.
Kenneth Lee along with Devon Fisher, were originally charged with murder for the shooting death of Barkete Shita.
Prosecutors later dropped the murder charge against Lee. His defense attorney Linden Lindahl said he was not the alleged shooter.
In a deal with the Fresno County District Attorney’s Office, Lee, who is now 23, pleaded guilty to assault with a firearm, participating in a criminal street gang and possession of a firearm by a felon.
Fisher was sentenced on Nov. 19 to 21 years and pleaded no contest to voluntary manslaughter.
Prior to Lee’s sentence, Shita’s father, Lakachew Leyew, expressed his grief in a letter to the court. He wrote about how his family has been impacted by the loss of Shita.
The victim was a Caltrans employee who was finishing up his engineering degree at Fresno State.
Prosecutor Amy Freeman read the letter to the court.
“Words in this world can not express the loss we have suffered and the pain we have endured and the agony we are going through each day ever since the brutal passing of our beloved son Barkete Lakachew Shita,” the father wrote.
Freeman urged Judge Michael Idiart to give Lee the maximum prison sentence of five years and four months, and that is exactly what the judge did.
Idiart explained to Lee that although the defendant did not pull the trigger, his actions resulted in deadly consequences for Shita and a life of sadness for his family.
“Hopefully you have listened to and understand this,” the judge said. “When you throw a rock into a pool it doesn’t just sink to the bottom it causes a ripple effect and that is what you and your co-participant have done.”
Lee spoke briefly in court.
“Your honor, I know there is nothing I can do to change the chain of events that has happened to this family over the past few years,” Lee said. “But I do know this, I am truly sorry for my involvement in this crime. If I could take it back everything I would.”
Police said Shita ran into Lee and Fisher on the afternoon of Sept. 29, 2016 in central Fresno at the Shell gasoline station at Dakota and Blackstone.
Police said words were exchanged and Shita got in his car and drove off. He ended up about a block north in the parking lot of a Jiffy Lube.
A few moments later, the pair caught up to him, approached Shita and Fisher began firing, wounding the victim, police said.
Shita tried to get away but Fisher continued to shoot. He traveled north in the southbound lanes of Blackstone, crashing head-on into a car at Griffith Way.
He was taken to Community Regional Medical Center, where he died of multiple gunshot wounds.
Lee has been in the Fresno County Jail since his arrest in 2016 and will receive credit of about four years that he will use to shave off his prison sentence of five years, four months.
Idiart acknowledged that Lee won’t spend a lot of time in prison, so he reminded him he now has two strikes on his record. A third strike could potentially send him to prison for life.
“I can’t say whether you will be truly forgiven by the family, but it would go a long way if you never committed a crime again,” Idiart said. “Otherwise it will be a waste of our time and you know where you will be headed.”
