ER - Sixteen-year-old pleads guilty

Sixteen-year-old pleads guilty to second degree murder one day after jury selection
by Christine Bensen-Messinger, 12/6/2006

One day after jury selection was to begin in the trial against him, Joaquin Angel Fitzgerald pleaded guilty to second degree murder.

As he entered Humboldt County Superior Court Judge John T. Feeney’s courtroom and sat down, friends and family of Fitzgerald, a 16-year-old Fields Landing resident, started crying.

Fitzgerald, 16, and Keyontae Lamar Taylor, 15, were arrested in connection with the homicide of Tracy Daniel Reynolds less than a week after he was found dead near the railroad tracks by the Humboldt Hill exit of U.S. Highway 101, at approximately 1 p.m. on Feb. 24.

Fitzgerald is charged with committing murder during the commission of a robbery, personal use of a firearm during a robbery, torture and cruelty to an animal.

Taylor was charged with murder during the commission of a robbery, committing robbery while vicariously armed, torture and cruelty to an animal. However, per a plea agreement, the charges against him were dropped, and during Fitzgerald’s preliminary hearing in October, Taylor testified against him.

Taylor was placed back in the juvenile court system and is facing accessory after the fact and animal cruelty charges, as previously reported in The Eureka Reporter. If convicted of his plea agreement charges, Taylor could face a maximum prison sentence of three years and eight months in a California Youth Authority facility.

The two boys were accused of befriending Reynolds, 38, on the railroad tracks, drinking a few beers with him and then leaving and returning with a gun and robbing and killing Reynolds.

Reynolds’ body was discovered by a passerby, who alerted Humboldt County Sheriff’s deputies.

“The investigation indicated that the victim was shot first in the leg. The painful character of that wound (was) intended to speed up his cooperation with the robbery,” Humboldt County Assistant District Attorney Wes Keat said in a previous interview with The Eureka Reporter.

The complaints of torture and animal cruelty stem from incidents that allegedly happened prior to Reynolds’ killing, Keat said. Keat said the boys allegedly shot at cows in the area, killing one.

Prior to his sentencing, Fitzgerald’s attorney Neal Sanders and Humboldt County Deputy District Attorney Allan Dollison said an agreement was reached that his other charges, including unrelated infractions, would be dropped if Fitzgerald pleaded guilty to second degree murder.

Prior to accepting his plea, Feeney asked Sanders if Fitzgerald understood his rights.

“I believe so,” Sanders said. “He’s quite young, but he’s quite bright.”

Feeney also told Fitzgerald his plea carries a sentence of 15 years to life in state prison, a potential for thousands of dollars in fines and victim restitution and, if he is granted parole after being released from prison, it would be for life.

He also told Fitzgerald his conviction will count as a strike, per California’s three strikes law.

Had he been convicted of the previous charges he would have been eligible for a sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Fitzgerald is scheduled to be sentenced on Jan. 9 at 2 p.m. in courtroom eight.

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