It was a crime that rocked the community. A well-known, well-loved small businessman was the victim of a home-invasion robbery at his home in April 2019.
Three days after the attack that left him unconscious, Randy Taing died.
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Taing was the owner of Rose Donuts, a popular spot in Linda Vista to grab a cup of coffee, a bite to eat or to chat with the owner about life.
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Taing had been victimized by a sophisticated criminal organization out of Los Angeles, according to the woman who prosecuted his killer four years after the crime.
“They targeted the small business owners and they went in in a very tight time frame and oftentimes took a safe,” said San Diego County Deputy District Attorney Kristie Nicoletich. The prosecutor explained the criminals “preyed upon the stereotypes that they may not keep their money in a bank but may keep it at home in a safe.”
One of those criminals, Keon Wilson, was linked to the robbery and murder of Taing after an exhaustive two-year investigation by detectives from the San Diego Police Department. Investigators used reverse location searches and Google geofences to locate devices linked to the burglaries. Finding the devices helped them find Wilson, but not his co-conspirators.
They were able to link Wilson to two other home invasion robberies in Poway and Carlsbad, and had the cases gone to trial, Nicoletich said there were links to two other robberies in the Los Angeles area.
The trial never happened because Wilson decided he wanted to take responsibility for Taing’s death.
At the sentencing, Taing’s widow, Hong Taing, sobbed as she addressed her husband’s killer.
“It’s a nightmare every day for four years,” she cried. “Why did you do that to my husband, take him away from me?”
Taing’s son handed his mother a tissue to wipe away her tears before turning his words toward Wilson.
“Thank you for acknowledging what you did that day. Our family can actually put this behind us and move forward, and hopefully my mom will one day be her normal self, but until then, we’ll take it day by day," he said.
Wilson was sentenced to 24 years, 4 months to life in prison, without the possibility of parole.
