2 Women Sentenced To Six Years For Beating Death Of Woman Outside OC Nightclub
SANTA ANA (CBSLA.com) — Two women were sentenced Friday to six years in prison for the beating death a 23-year-old woman outside a Santa Ana nightclub.
Candace Brito, 27, and Vanesa Zavala, 26, were found guilty in July of one felony count of voluntary manslaughter and one felony count of assault with force likely to produce great bodily injury with a sentencing enhancement for causing great bodily injury.
According to authorities, Annie Hung Kim Pham was fighting with another woman on Jan. 19 outside the Crosby Bar and Nightclub when Brito and Zavala go involved and physically assaulted her. When she fell to the ground, Pham was kicked in the head multiple times.
When officers arrived they found Pham, who appeared unconscious, on the sidewalk.
She was declared brain dead when she arrived at a hospital and was disconnected from life support two days later, after her organs were harvested.
Brito and Zavala faced a maximum sentence of 11 years in state prison but received only six.
"I'm not happy with the sentence because I've gotten to know Candace and what she's all about, but I understand the sentence and as a lawyer looking at it, it's a great result and we're happy with that result as we started out looking at life," Brito's attorney, Miachel Molfetta said.
Both defendants apologized in court Friday to Pham's family.
"I don't feel happy or sad — it is what it is. From the beginning, we already established that whatever the justice system is going to sentence we were just going to take it," Pham's sister, Katie said.
Witness accounts and two cellphone videos aided in the investigation.
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