A man who was serving a 57-year state prison term for killing a rival in the Antelope Valley and has been featured in two documentaries about his rehabilitation efforts while behind bars was re-sentenced Friday to 25 years in prison, the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office announced.
In a statement, District Attorney Nathan Hochman said Tommy Lee Wickerd — whose story has been featured in the documentaries “26.2 to Life” and “Friendly Signs” — “has been a model prisoner who has changed the course of his life by walking on a path of redemption.”
The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation will calculate how much time Wickerd, now 58, has left to do behind bars and determine when he will be released — likely in the coming months, according to the District Attorney’s Office, which noted that the CDCR had estimated that he would have been eligible regardless for “elderly parole” within less than two years.
Wickerd pleaded guilty in 2005 to a felony count of voluntary manslaughter for the January 2002 fatal shooting of Timothy Carter, who was shot multiple times and his remains were found the next day in the trunk of a smoldering vehicle, according to the District Attorney’s Office.
He also admitted gang and gun enhancements, along with admitting a prior strike, authorities said.
Witnesses said the two men were caught up in a violent feud that resulted in numerous physical altercations, according to the District Attorney’s Office, which said that it appeared the two men each had a child with the same woman.
During his time in state prison, Wickerd was lauded for serving as a president of a running club, establishing an American Sign Language class for inmates who are deaf or hard-of-hearing and completed a General Education Development program, according to the District Attorney’s Office.
The District Attorney’s Office said it had initially objected to the re-sentencing bid, but subsequently reached an agreement with Wickerd’s attorney for a modified sentence after the re-sentencing petition was granted by Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Michelle DeCasas based on an exceptional conduct recommendation from the head of the CDCR.
The District Attorney’s Office noted that Wickerd had an unblemished record of exceptional conduct behind bars, and said that Hochman met with members of the victim’s family and acknowledged their “deep and lasting pain” before the defendant was re-sentenced.