Lucerne Valley man sentenced for murder (4-6-11)

By TOMOYA SHIMURA, Staff Writer

VICTORVILLE • A 23-year-old Lucerne Valley man who killed his girlfriend’s stepfather nearly six years ago was sentenced to 15-years-to-life in prison last Friday.

Although family members of the victim, Alberto Benitez, were present in the Victorville courtroom, they didn’t give victim impact statements.

Judge Jules Fleuret sentenced Vincent Schofield according to a plea agreement accepted by Judge John Tomberlin. Schofield pleaded guilty in February to second-degree murder just before he was headed to the jury selection phase of his trial.

Schofield will be spending a total of at least 20 years in prison because he waived five years of credit time served since he was arrested.

“We feel good, but at the same time, we feel bad for (Schofield’s) family,” Gloria Benitez, the victim’s sister, said. “I don’t feel sorry for him, but I think his family’s suffering more than him. I forgive him.”

On June 30, 2005, Schofield, his girlfriend and her biological mother plotted to lure Alberto Benitez outside his Lucerne Valley home. Prosecutors allege Schofield approached from behind to strike the 47-year-old victim in the head with a metal baseball bat.
Justina Marie Perry, 23, Schofield’s girlfriend, was sentenced to 15 years to life in prison in July. April Gwen Benitez, Perry’s 43-year-old mother, was sentenced to 25 years to life in prison in August.

Deputy District Attorney Steve Sinfield said April Benitez was probably the mastermind of the murder and manipulated the other defendants, who were teenagers at the time of the killing.

“I feel like this is the end,” Angelica Benton, another sister of the victim, said. “I have stronger feelings for April. For Justina and Vincent, I just feel that they were used.”

G.Ann Schofield, Vincent Schofield’s mother, said her son is remorseful.

“He was a very good man,” the mother said. “I believe he has the strength to pay it back.”

It wasn’t an easy decision for Vincent Schofield and his mother to change his plea, but they had no other choice, G.Ann Schofield said. She convinced her son to tell the truth to investigators after the incident, the mother said.

“Because of my bad decision (for him) to tell the truth to investigators, he had to make that decision,” she said. “Otherwise, we’ll be fighting this.”

Tomoya Shimura may be reached at (760) 955-5368 or tshimura@VVDailyPress.com.