BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KGET) — An uncomfortably quiet home. A daughter who will never meet her father. A void at family gatherings.
The death of 27-year-old Andrew John Camacho, shot during a confrontation in 2022, continues to make itself felt in many ways, family said Wednesday.
His mother said Camacho’s room remains untouched. It still smells like him. Reminders like that prove difficult to bear.
“My heart is broken,” she told a Superior Court judge Wednesday.
Camacho’s mother and two sisters — all of of whom struggled through tears as they addressed the court, pausing at times to collect themselves — asked Judge Eric Bradshaw to reject the plea deal reached with Camacho’s killer. They argued the slaying deserves a life term behind bars.
Bradshaw followed the terms of the plea bargain and sentenced Victor Rivera to 21 years in prison.
Rivera, 37, last month pleaded no contest to voluntary manslaughter. A charge of first-degree murder was dismissed.
Valerie Moriel, Camacho’s eldest sister, said she spoke to him two hours before he was killed. She tried to call him later from work and got no answer.