Trial Is Ordered for Man in Fatal Shooting of Daughter : Courts: Proceedings are due to start Feb. 21 in Santa Ana. But the public defender vows to continue to press for a plea bargain.

After failing to plea bargain on lesser charges, David Curtis Stinson on Friday was ordered to stand trial on a charge of involuntary manslaughter in the shooting death of his 15-year-old daughter, who was killed last October as her father cleaned his gun.

“It was a tragic accident,” Stinson murmured in a corner outside the courtroom prior to the proceedings in Municipal Court in Newport Beach. “At this point I really don’t care (what the judge rules). You can’t bring (my daughter) back,” he said, hunched over with his arms wrapped around his stomach.

Stinson, who his lawyer says was intoxicated at the time of the shooting, agreed to show up for trial Feb. 21 in Orange County Superior Court, Santa Ana.

Stinson, who works as a warehouse supervisor in Costa Mesa, had raised Callaster Natis Stinson alone since the girl was 9. He won custody of her from his ex-wife who, according to court records, did not have enough money to feed their daughter while living in an abandoned bus in Riverside County.

“It’s hard being a single parent,” Stinson said. “The best I could do was keep a roof over her head.”

A judge released Stinson, 39, from jail last November pending trial on condition that he give his gun to police and enroll in an alcoholism counseling program.

Stinson’s public defender, Ron Klar, said he will again seek a plea bargain in Superior Court. He had hoped to sway Judge Susanne S. Shaw on Friday that Stinson had spent productive time in treatment.

“We were waiting (for) him to get settled in his alcohol program to show the world he means business with his alcohol problem,” Klar said. “He hasn’t touched alcohol since the incident. He hasn’t touched a weapon since and he does not desire to.”

Deputy Dist. Atty. Debbie Lloyd, who will be prosecuting Stinson, declined to comment on the case.

Stinson’s sister, Dana, 30, said her brother has moved out of the Costa Mesa apartment where the shooting occurred.

“I know he’s been mourning her,” she said. “It’s hard for him. He’s changed in that he’s lost his leveling. He’s still trying to basically get on with it.”