Suspect Fleeing Robbery Is Sentenced to 30 Years for Fatal Accident

A man with a long record was sentenced to 30 years to life in prison Thursday for killing another motorist in a La Mesa traffic accident while fleeing police.

Rodney Capell, 27, of San Diego was given the 25-year-to-life term for the death of Ronald Stone, 29, of San Carlos in the Jan. 20 accident.

San Diego Superior Court Judge William Howatt added five years consecutively because Capell had a previous robbery conviction.

His attorney, William Youmans, said Capell “did not intentionally kill a human being.”

Capell pleaded guilty June 23 to first-degree murder but tried unsuccessfully to withdraw that plea Thursday. Capell said he didn’t understand how he could be guilty of first-degree murder.

“I understand his bitterness,” Youmans said. “It was his record that killed him.

“He basically has been in and out of penal institutions . . . since his teen-age years.”

Youmans said Capell pleaded guilty partly because prosecutors agreed to drop murder charges against his brother, Trenton Capell, 22, who was a passenger in the car, if he pleaded guilty to first-degree murder.

Both were fleeing a purse snatching, and San Diego police were following them at high speed.

Both were charged with murder under the felony murder rule that involves a death during or fleeing a felony.

The accident occurred at Baltimore Drive and Lake Murray Boulevard.