Spring Valley

The convicted killer of a former Los Angeles Rams football player was sentenced Wednesday to 44 years to life in state prison.

The sentence given to George Cunnington, 27, of Spring Valley, also included a term for a second murder committed hours before he killed Rey Nicholas Phillinganes, the former football player. Phillinganes, 23, was shot about 7 a.m. on Nov. 18, as he and his fiancee were leaving her apartment in La Mesa.

Cunnington tried to rob Phillinganes at gunpoint, and Phillinganes was shot in the chest as he tried to wrestle the gun away.

The other victim, Robert Hetmer, 51, was shot to death in his ransacked, Spring Valley home, where Cunnington was also living.

San Diego Superior Court Judge Andrew Wagner imposed consecutive sentences for both murders.

Last month, Cunnington pleaded guilty to first-degree murder in the death of Phillinganes, and second-degree murder in Hetmer’s slaying.

In an interview with the probation department, Cunnington said he accidentally shot Phillinganes. He said he encountered the former football player while under the influence of crystal methamphetamine, marijuana and possibly cocaine.

Cunnington maintained that the gun “went off” during the struggle for control of the weapon.

The defendant also said he did not remember killing Hetmer, according to the probation department.