A man who was staying temporarily with Vance Shazier, a “beloved member of the Metropolitan Community Church (MCC),” pleaded guilty Monday to voluntary manslaughter in the beating death of Shazier, 67, in 2009.
Thomas Lee Daniel, 40, faces a maximum sentence of 11 years in state prison. San Diego Superior Court Judge John Einhorn set sentencing for Feb. 24.
Shazier was gay and had a prison ministry. Daniel never attended MCC, but Shazier met him in late 2008 at a food bank. Daniel was homeless at the time, and Shazier invited him to stay temporarily in his 7th Avenue home. He was found dead Jan. 13, 2009.
“We still miss Vance very much … his sweet presence, his big heart and his ready smile,” said Rev. Dan Koeshall, senior pastor at MCC. “We know he is at peace.”
“We needed some sense of closure and we have that now,” said John, a member of MCC who knew Shazier. “This thing dragged out an awful long time.”
Deputy District Attorney Leonard Trinh said Daniel will have to serve 85 percent of the 11-year term before he can be paroled. Daniel has already spent two years in jail and eight months in a state mental hospital after a judge found he wasn’t mentally competent to stand trial.
Daniel was later determined to be mentally fit for trial and is now taking an anti-psychotic medication in jail that is used for people with bipolar disorder or schizophrenia. He was to have stood trial for murder Jan. 9, but the judge dismissed the murder charge after he pleaded guilty to manslaughter.
“It would have been a tough trial. The argument from the defense was that it was involuntary manslaughter,” said Trinh. “This was a compromise from what we would have asked for and what they would have asked for.”
Trinh said Daniel’s attorney was going to argue that Shazier’s age and medical condition contributed to his death. Shazier was in advanced renal failure, had diabetes, and was on a kidney transplant list. He also had severe blocked arteries, though a pathologist said he did not have a heart attack.
Daniel’s attorney, Zaki Zehawi, said Shazier “was just in poor health and there was evidence the victim was not taking care of himself.”
Zehawi said he will be asking Einhorn to impose a 3-year prison sentence, which would be credit for time already served. There is a question of whether Daniel would receive credits for his 8 months in the mental hospital.
“There was no weapon involved. It was a fight between roommates,” said Zehawi. “It was one punch and one kick.”
Shazier told John and another MCC member that his roommate would be evicted and feared he could become violent to him. Shazier told them he looked forward to heaven. Both members had been interviewed by the DA’s office and probably would have testified in the trial.
“Vance was a guy who trusted everyone. He offered them unconditional friendship,” said John.
It was Daniel who alerted someone about Shazier’s death. He stuck around while paramedics and police officers responded. Daniel admitted to punching and kicking Shazier, but not enough to cause death he said.
Daniel remains in the downtown central jail on $1 million bail.
