The friends and family of a brutally murdered former Gilroy
Garlic Queen and her killer will have to wait four weeks for
resolution thanks to delayed paperwork.
The friends and family of a brutally murdered former Gilroy Garlic Queen and her killer will have to wait four weeks for resolution thanks to delayed paperwork.
More than 30 people packed the wooden benches of a San Martin Courthouse courtroom to witness confessed-murderer David Vincent Reyes see his case continued. Reyes, 41, pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter, two counts of felony robbery and failure to register as a sex offender Oct. 5 after hammering out a plea deal with the Santa Clara County Office of the District Attorney. Reyes is expected to receive 32 years at the formal sentencing hearing.
“That detail will not change,” Barsi’s sister, Lauretta Avina, said.
The plea deal is still on, deputy district attorney Ted Kajani said. As sometimes happens, the county probation department needed more time to prepare the judge’s report, which contains a summary of the case, interviews with family and friends of the victim and the offender’s background.
Barsi was found Sept. 12, 2006, in her Westwood Drive condominium, tied with arms and legs behind her back with a white electrical cord and suffocated to death, according to the county medical examiner. Two days after Barsi’s death, Reyes took police on an hour-long pursuit from San Jose to Gilroy and back again before his arrest. In custody that same day, he confessed to killing the 38-year-old Barsi – his on-again, off-again girlfriend – during an argument, police said.
The murder shocked friends and family, who recalled Barsi as a vivacious woman with a bevy of talents. She was well known in the community and remembered for following in her sister’s steps to become Miss Gilroy Garlic Queen in 1986. The murder left her then 10-year-old son motherless.
Reyes has a history of violence toward women. Previous to the murder, he was arrested for assault with intent to commit rape and two counts of battery against women. At the time of the murder, he also had warrants out for his arrest for armed robbery and failing to register as a sex offender, and was listed as one of Gilroy’s Most Wanted.
The delay in sentencing – which allows supporters of both sides a chance to give a declaration in court – disappointed people on both sides of the case.
“Mr. Reyes actually wanted to be sentenced today,” Reyes’s public defender Carl Beatty said before giving a talk to the more than 20 people gathered to support Reyes. “He wants resolution and closure.”
Friends and family of Barsi also expressed a desire to end the ordeal, which has stretched on for more than a year. Still, Avina, Barsi’s mother and friends are ready to address the court Nov. 26 during the rescheduled afternoon-long sentencing.
“We’ve been quiet a whole year,” Avina said. “We’re finally going to get to speak our piece.”
