Judge convicts two people in Santa Rosa bar shooting case

Two Sonoma County men face the rest of their lives in prison after being convicted Wednesday of a fatal 2021 shooting outside a Santa Rosa bar.

Ednie Afamasaga, 30, and Fotagia Fuiava, 32, sat quietly as Judge Robert LaForge sentenced them for the killing of Kenneth McDaniel outside the Whiskey Tip on September 25, 2021.

LaForge capped off the emotional hearing before the Sonoma County Superior Court in Santa Rosa by stressing that the killing was “cold-blooded murder.”

Testimony in the jury trial against Afamasaga and Fuiava began on February 20. Jury deliberations began almost a month later, on March 19.

They deliberated for seven days and then, on March 29, acquitted the two men of conspiracy charges, but convicted them of premeditated murder, assault with a deadly weapon and shooting at an inhabited house or vehicle.

On Wednesday, LaForge ordered Afamasaga to serve a total sentence of 43 years to life in prison.

The judge imposed a higher sentence of 59 years to life imprisonment on Fuiava because he had previously been convicted of assault with a deadly weapon.

Prosecutors had charged both men with first-degree murder, plus an enhanced penalty for lying in wait, but the jury instead found them guilty of the less serious second-degree murder.

Standing next to a loved one carrying McDaniel's photo on Wednesday, his great-aunt Juanita McDaniel LaForge said she was displeased that the two had been convicted of a lesser crime of murder.

“If it had been up to me, I would have given her the death penalty,” she told the judge.

“It destroyed me, Your Honor,” she said of the murder. “Every time I went to court, I relived it, Your Honor.”

In a handwritten letter submitted to the court, Fuiava said he felt terrible about his actions and asked McDaniel's family for forgiveness.

“This has definitely been an eye-opener for me,” he wrote. “I can't even find the right words to describe how I got to this point. When I think of all the pain I have caused not only to the victims' families, but to my own, it is a burden I will have to carry with me until my final days.”

Whether Afamasaga and Fuiava shot Kenneth McDaniel was never in question during the trial. The question was whether they killed him in self-defense or in revenge.

Afamasaga testified that Kenneth McDaniel shot him outside Remy's Bar & Grill in Santa Rosa in June 2018.

He claimed he was a bouncer trying to break up a fight in a parking lot involving McDaniel, who opened fire and hit Afamasaga twice in the leg.

However, McDaniel was never arrested for the 2018 shooting that injured Afamasaga, and McDaniel's family said Wednesday there was no evidence he was responsible.

Prosecutors alleged that the defendants were seeking revenge for the Remys' shooting when they encountered McDaniel at the whiskey dump three years later.

Defense attorneys countered that the shooting at the Whiskey Tip occurred because their clients believed McDaniel was a threat to them and their families, who were also at the bar that evening.

One of them took part in a rap performance that attracted dozens of people to the venue.

Both defendants testified that they considered leaving the Whiskey Tip when they saw McDaniel, but then approached him to talk about maintaining a quiet night.

He refused the request and told Afamasaga: “Go out with your (swear word).”

According to the defendants, this comment made them fear that McDaniel posed a threat, and both opened fire in the parking lot before fleeing the scene.

Prosecutors countered that McDaniel was afraid of the defendants, who watched him for 46 minutes without seeing that McDaniel was carrying a weapon.

Surveillance footage from the Whiskey Tip showed McDaniel kneeling next to a pickup truck with a friend when Afamasaga and Fuiava fired about 30 shots at him.

McDaniel was hit 19 times.

On Wednesday, Juanita McDaniel said in court: “I would have taken one bullet for that boy. I would have taken all 19 bullets.”

Prosecutors argued that unregistered weapons were used in the murder, even though Afamasaga had legally purchased such a weapon for his protection after the 2018 shooting.

Afamasaga testified that he left the whiskey dump and threw his gun into the Petaluma River. Fuiava said he left his gun in bushes before retrieving it and disposing of it in the Pacific Ocean.

The defendants were arrested three days after the shooting and have been in custody since their arrest.

Five of Afamasaga's supporters also sent letters to LaForge asking for leniency. Among them was his wife, Sequoia, who described Afamasaga as a hard-working man and a loving father and husband.

“I believe that with the proper support, guidance and opportunity, he is capable of being an active and contributing member of society,” she wrote. “I am not asking that the seriousness of the situation be discounted. I respectfully request that the truth about his character be considered in the sentencing and that he be granted leniency.”

Reach staff writer Colin Atagi at [email protected]. Follow on Twitter @colin_atagi