A 20-year-old motorist will be sentenced April 17 after he pleaded guilty to hit and run in the death of an 81-year-old retired attorney who was killed Feb. 13 walking his two small dogs in National City.
Robert Turner Gustafson, 81, worked as an attorney for 54 years and was a public defender with an office in Chula Vista. He was a lifelong Democrat who was passionate about preserving natural resources, civil rights and social concerns, according to his obituary. He was a strong advocate for the poor and under privileged.
Efrain Gabriel Black, 20, of San Diego, appeared Monday before Chula Vista Superior Court Judge Dwayne Moring, and his attorney asked for a delay because the judge who took his guilty plea was out ill Monday. Black remains in the George Bailey Detention Facility without bail.
Black faces up to four years in state prison, said Deputy District Attorney Thomas McClain. He could also be placed on probation with local jail time or a 2-3 year term in prison. McClain said he was driving between 5-15 mph over the speed limit before he struck Gustafson, 81, around 7 p.m. A published report said Gustafson’s housemate heard the collision and he found him lying in the eastbound lane of Fourth Street near Euclid Ave.
Black was not charged with vehicular manslaughter, and was only charged with hitting Gustafson and leaving the scene of an accident. Black turned himself in to National City Police the next day.
Gustafson was a familiar figure in National City while walking his two little dogs. His obituary described him as an animal lover and said he had found homes for many puppies and kittens. He worked in the Navy legal service office in Oakland, San Francisco and elsewhere. He was transferred to San Diego in 1974, and was active in his church home at St. Matthew’s Episcopal Church in National City. He had a military inurnment at Miramar National Cemetery.
