San Diego man gets 35 years to life for killing wife, 29, not long after she sought divorce

A man who shot his wife with a shotgun near a City Heights home was sentenced to 35 years in prison on Monday.

Fernando Avila, 30, pleaded guilty to first-degree murder in San Diego High Court and admitted to using a gun on Dec. 5, 2019, when shooting 29-year-old Julia Serrano, the mother of his two children.

Court documents say she had been married for nearly seven years, but Serrano filed for divorce shortly before her death.

At the sentencing hearing, Avila apologized to Serrano’s family for “suffering so much harm” and for “removing their mother” from their children.

“If I recovered what I had done, I would do it,” Avila said. “But because I can’t, I have to live with the pain and guilt of knowing what I’ve done.”

In Avila’s preliminary ruling, a neighbor who lived next door to the couple on 46th Street testified that she and her husband woke up around 5:30 a.m. in a loud argument.

It was not clear where the discussion was headed, but he heard a woman say, “Stop it, leave me alone!”

Avila then shot Serrano once outside their home. Police say they found the spent shotgun and blood next to the couple’s vehicle, outside the residence parked on the street.

After the first shooting, the victim ran to the corner of 46th Street and University Avenue, where he sat on the treadmill, according to witnesses.

Surveillance images from a nearby business saw Avila following Serrano on the street, and then shot him a second time, according to prosecutors.

In the picture, Avila is seen kneeling on top of the victim after the shooting, leaving the scene briefly, then returning and kneeling on top of the victim again.

Serrano died on the spot. Avila was arrested shortly afterwards.

Fernando Avila, 30, pleaded guilty to first-degree murder in San Diego High Court and admitted to using a gun on Dec. 5, 2019, when shooting 29-year-old Julia Serrano, the mother of his two children.2

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