Guilty Plea in Fatal Shooting at Party
An El Cajon man pleaded guilty Tuesday to voluntary manslaughter in the shooting death of a teen-ager at a party Jan. 26.
As part of a plea bargain in which murder and attempted murder charges were dropped, Nadir Jamil Mikhail, 20, pleaded guilty to the manslaughter and admitted using a gun.
Mikhail, being held in lieu of $1.5 million bail, could receive up to 16 years in prison when he is sentenced June 25.
Slain at the La Mesa party was Robbie Loftis, 19, of Lemon Grove. Another man, Charles Hall, 19, of Spring Valley, was wounded in the arm and leg.
Mikhail is an Iraqi. However, prosecutors have maintained that the incident had nothing to do with the war in the Persian Gulf.
Mikhail made his plea before Municipal Court Judge Janet Kinter only hours before a jury was to hear opening arguments in his murder trial.
The shooting took place in a driveway of a residence in the 11300 block of Explorer Road. Mikhail had been called to house by the hosts to help disperse guests attending the party while the hosts’ parents were out of town.
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