Man sentenced to 27 years
SANTA BARBARA — Scott Robert Fleming, who was previously found guilty in Santa Barbara County of multiple violent crimes, was sentenced Thursday to 27 years in state prison.
District Attorney Joyce E. Dudley announced the sentencing in a news release, which explained that her office sought the maximum sentence because of a number of aggravating factors. Those included the defendant’s extensive criminal history involving assaultive conduct and his prior strike conviction.
A jury previously found Mr. Fleming guilty of voluntary manslaughter, assault with force likely to produce great bodily injury and battery causing serious bodily injury, as well as a special allegation for personally inflicting great bodily injury in the killing of Eric Romero.
These charges stemmed from an assault in Carpinteria during the early morning of July 20, 2019. After various altercations between a group of friends, the defendant turned on Mr. Romero, who was trying to de-escalate the situation.
The defendant assaulted Mr. Romero, rendering him unconscious and causing him to fall back and hit his head on the concrete, the District Attorney’s Office explained in its news release.
Mr. Romero succumbed to his injuries several hours later at Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital.
The defendant fled the scene shortly after the assault and was apprehended by Sheriff’s Detectives several days later in Ventura.
“Justice was served in this case as a direct result of a thorough investigation by the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office and a detailed and rigorous prosecution team led by Senior Deputy District Attorney Kevin Weichbrod,” Ms. Dudley said.
— Dave Mason
