‘A slap in the face’: Victim’s family reacts as man gets 10 years for killing young sailor

Albert Lee Soto. (Photo courtesy of Atoria Elem/GoFundMe) A man who fatally shot an 18-year-old Navy sailor in East Village was sentenced Monday to 10 years in state prison. Ta’Kari Terell Benness, 21, pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter and a gun allegation for the Aug. 31, 2024, killing of Albert Lee Soto, an operations specialist seaman apprentice who was assigned to the San Diego-based destroyer USS Pinckney. Soto, a native of Queens, New York, had reported to San Diego for military service in April of 2024, six months after enlisting, according to the Navy. At Benness’ arraignment, a prosecutor said the shooting stemmed from a fight between two groups of people at a local nightclub, which spilled into an argument outside. Deputy District Attorney Matthew Carberry said Benness and/or members of his group said something to the effect of, “I will air this (expletive) out. I’ve got my gun in the car.” The prosecutor said Soto left, but later returned, “demanding a one-on-one fight in retribution for the fight that took place in the club.” Benness then pulled out a gun and shot the victim, according to the prosecutor. Soto was taken to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead. Carberry said Benness then fled California on a Greyhound bus. He was arrested nearly two months later in St. Cloud, Minnesota. At his sentencing hearing, Benness apologized and said, “I don’t like the fact that I took another man’s life.” However, he also claimed Soto followed him and “put me in a weird position,” drawing anger from several of Soto’s family members who attended court or viewed the hearing remotely. Some of Soto’s loved ones alleged Benness bragged about the killing on social media. A letter read in court from the victim’s mother, Sarria Soto, called the 10-year sentence “a slap in the face” and “a number that allows (Benness) to start over someday, but my pain will remain for a lifetime.” Her letter, directed toward Benness, also read, “I don’t want sympathy. I want you to feel the weight of what you did. You took something you can never give back.”