El Cajon
The former manager of an El Cajon auto body shop has been sentenced to 19 years to life in state prison for killing a mechanic in the shop.
Allen Lowry, 41, of Santee, received the term from San Diego Superior Court Judge Melinda Lasater for his second-degree murder conviction.
The victim was Jeffrey Wise, 26, of El Cajon, who was shot in the neck inside the A & D Mobile Fleet Maintenance shop in El Cajon. Wise was shot June 20, 1990, but he died in a hospital two days later.
Lasater ordered Lowry to pay $1,000 as restitution to the victim’s parents.
His attorney, William Burnell, asked for a new trial and for a reduction to involuntary manslaughter, but both requests were denied Thursday.
Burnell had argued to jurors that the shooting was accidental. He said Lowry was showing Wise a gun he kept in the shop for security reasons and, when he stumbled, it discharged.
The jury deliberated about 1 1/2 days before acquitting Lowry of first-degree murder and finding him guilty of second-degree murder Dec. 12.
Deputy Dist. Atty. Genaro Ramirez had argued that Lowry shot Wise in a dispute over tools and money.
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