Teenage Burglar Sentenced in Man’s Beating Death
A teenage burglar who beat a retired aerospace engineer to death with a flashlight was sentenced Friday to 26 years to life in prison.
Emi Tauanuu Jr., 16, pleaded guilty in July to the first-degree murder of Wilfred Ray Barnes, 81, of Garden Grove.
Barnes was in bed the night of Nov. 2 but got up and stumbled into Tauanuu and his uncle Sivea Logoleo, who also pleaded guilty and will be sentenced next week.
Deputy Dist. Atty. Claudia Silbar said Tauanuu got the maximum term and will have to serve 85% of it before he is considered for parole.
Tauanuu, who was 15 on the night of the crime, told Orange County Superior Court Judge William Froeberg that the killing was an accident.
“I’m sorry for what happened, but everything was an accident,” Tauanuu said. “I didn’t plead guilty because I know I did it. I pleaded guilty [because] I didn’t want my parents to see the pictures and everything like that.”
Barnes’ widow made her own appeal while her adult son sat next to her, providing support.
“He has taken my life. He has taken my home, and I don’t think I will ever get over it,” Kathryn Georgia Barnes said.
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