Guard at illegal cannabis dispensary gets prison for fatally shooting would-be customer in Vista [Breaking]
A marijuana dispensary security guard who shot a would-be customer nine times — including eight times in his back — in Vista three years ago was sentenced Tuesday to 50 years to life in prison.
A Vista Superior Court jury found Calvin Lamar Ackles, 43, guilty in January of first-degree murder and an allegation that he’d used a gun in the death of Francisco Cruz, 31. The jury rejected the argument that Ackles was acting in self-defense in the confrontation, which happened outside an illegal dispensary on South Santa Fe Avenue north of Smilax Road around 9:30 p.m. March 26, 2020, days after COVID shut downs hit the state.According to Deputy District Attorney Mike Still, Cruz had gone to the dispensary warehouse in search of wax, a concentrated form of cannabis.
The prosecutor said Cruz, who was right handed, grabbed the wheel lock with his left hand. He had barely gotten it out of the trunk and was not raising it or swinging it when Ackles went for his gun. Ackles fired the .357-caliber handgun at close range, hitting Cruz once in his chest and eight more times in the back, the prosecutor said. Some of the shots were fired while the victim was on the ground.Cruz died at the scene. Ackles — a parolee and felon barred from having a gun — fled.
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