Santee

A 19-year-old Santee woman was sentenced Friday to 13 years in state prison for killing her boyfriend, a Marine.

The maximum sentence for voluntary manslaughter was handed down to Yolanda Garcia by San Diego Superior Court Judge Elizabeth Kutzner.

Garcia was also fined $1,000 and ordered to pay $200 to the victim’s family in restitution.

The victim, Anthony Jackson, 20, was shot in the head Sept. 24, 1987, and died Oct. 10.

His mother, Eleanor Jackson, blasted the criminal justice system in a tearful plea to the judge.

“Sunday is Mother’s Day, and I no longer have a son. . . . Instead, I will make a journey to Greenwood Cemetery,” said Jackson before breaking down.

She sharply criticized judges for having allowed Garcia to remain free on $50,000 bail.

In one of Garcia’s many stories to police, she claimed that she and the victim plotted together to drum him out of the Marines and agreed to have him shot in the shoulder to partly disable him.

Garcia closed her eyes when pulling the trigger and the bullet hit Jackson’s head instead of his shoulder, she said.

The judge said she didn’t believe Garcia’s story.

“Her version of the offense is not believable. She planned it without his participation,” Kutzner said.

“I think she does pose a danger to others,” the judge said.

“It was a needless, stupid act that caused his death,” said Deputy Dist. Atty. Denise McGuire.

Garcia pleaded guilty to manslaughter April 8, and a murder charge was dismissed. She could also have received a $10,000 fine.

Jackson was married but separated from his wife at the time he was seeing Garcia, who worked in a fast-food restaurant. He was stationed at Camp Pendleton.

The slaying occurred at his mother’s home in the Paradise Valley area.