Ex-UCI Student Escapes Life Term : Crime: Once convicted of first-degree murder in the death of her ex-boyfriend’s roommate, she gets six years on a reduced charge.

A 22-year-old former UC Irvine student who was convicted of first-degree murder escaped a possible life sentence Friday when a Superior Court judge reduced the crime to voluntary manslaughter and ordered her to serve six years in prison.

“I respectfully disagree with the judge,” Deputy Dist. Atty. Robert C. Gannon Jr. said after the sentencing. “We’re going to review this to see if an appeal is called for.”

Heather Rene Rose had been convicted in January of setting in motion the events that led to the 1989 beating and shooting death of her Balboa Peninsula neighbor, John David Fahey, 21. Prosecutors had charged that Rose, because of a love quarrel, had called in a “gang” that subsequently terrorized her former boyfriend and then killed Fahey, his roommate.

But Rose’s lawyer, Ron Cordova, argued in court Friday that new evidence would show that Rose did not call in friends to harm anyone. Cordova said that Richard Nogawa, 22, also a former UCI student, had given a statement saying that Rose had called him only for “company” and for drugs--not for any act of violence.

The prosecution had charged that Rose had called for vengeance by summoning Nogawa and his friends to her Balboa Boulevard apartment on Sept. 30, 1989.

According to police, Rose had an argument with her ex-boyfriend, Brent Claxton, and Claxton’s other roommate, Jennifer McCarty. McCarty allegedly hit Rose in the face during the dispute.

The prosecution argued that Rose was so angry that she called Nogawa, an alleged gang leader from Carson. Nogawa and eight other persons subsequently drove to Rose’s apartment carrying clubs and other weapons, police said.

When Claxton and Fahey left their apartment the night of Sept. 30, Nogawa and his friends chased them with baseball bats, police said. Claxton managed to escape, but Fahey, apparently an innocent bystander in the lovers’ quarrel, was clubbed and shot to death, police said.

Police arrested nine young men and Rose in connection with the death. The nine have all been convicted or pleaded guilty to charges ranging from first-degree murder to conspiracy and assault, prosecutors said. Nogawa was sentenced Friday morning to three years in prison for his role in the incident.

Cordova, appearing before Judge Ragnar R. Engebretsen Friday afternoon, said that he was only at that time able to produce Nogawa’s statement “exonerating” Rose. Cordova said he could not have previously introduced the statement into court because it would have jeopardized Nogawa’s trial.

Cordova said that Rose herself could not remember all that transpired on the day of the slaying because she was under the influence of drugs. Cordova added that Rose was a drug “addict” at the time of the incident.

After hearing the arguments, the judge summoned prosecutor Gannon and defense lawyer Cordova into chambers. They conferred for about 15 minutes.

During this time, Rose sat alone at the defense table. She was dressed in a long-sleeved dress with a flower print, and her long brown hair was braided into a pony tail. She turned to face members of her family who were sitting in the courtroom, and began silently weeping. Her mother, Linda Lunkley, was allowed to go to the young woman and comfort her.

A few minutes later, the judge, Gannon and Cordova emerged from the closed chambers. Gannon announced, for the record, that the district attorney’s office would not oppose any move to reduce the first-degree murder conviction to second-degree. But Gannon said the prosecution could not agree to a reduction to voluntary manslaughter.

Engebretsen, however, told the court that he had decided to reduce the conviction to voluntary manslaughter. He then sentenced Rose to six years at the California Institution for Women at Frontera. Rose, her face streaked with tears, was handcuffed and led from the court.

Cordova, outside of court, said that Rose might be able to be released on good behavior after serving only two years in prison.

According to the district attorney’s office, the others accused in the death of Fahey have received the following sentences: Nogawa, three years in prison; Stanley Frank Anaya, 21, San Pedro, 25 years to life; Tito Huizar, Long Beach, six years; Reynoldo Zepeda, Long Beach, eight years; Leroy Lujan, 29, Carson, 15 years to life, and Roman M. Woolem, San Pedro, three years. An unidentified, 17-year-old juvenile was sentenced to the California Youth Authority.

Woolem and two others, Larry Pena and Robert Pimental Jr., both of Long Beach, pleaded guilty to conspiracy charges. The sentence given Pena was not immediately available, and Pimental is still awaiting sentencing.