SAN DIEGO—A man who fatally injured Rose Donuts owner Randy Taing in his Clairemont Mesa home was sentenced June 6 to 27 years and four months to life in state prison.
Keon Wilson, 36, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in the April 5, 2019, burglary that left Taing, 58, fatally injured. He also pleaded guilty to two residential burglary counts for break-ins at homes in Poway and Carlsbad, which also occurred in 2019.
Taing, who owned Rose Donuts in Linda Vista, died in a hospital a few days after the break-in. A medical examiner testified at a preliminary hearing that blunt-force trauma injuries contributed to Taing’s death, but a heart attack caused by the stress of the event was the ultimate cause of death.
According to testimony, Wilson was first connected to the burglary spree through the break-in at Taing’s home.
A van seen leaving the area near Taing’s home was traced to Wilson, who rented the vehicle under his own name. Cell phone data and DNA evidence located inside the victim’s home also placed Wilson in the area around the time of the break-in, according to testimony.
A safe stolen from Taing’s home was later found empty and dumped in the Scripps Ranch area, in an embankment just off Interstate 15.
Wilson, a Los Angeles resident, was arrested in May 2021 in his hometown.
Deputy District Attorney Kristie Nikoletich said the break-ins were part of a larger string of home burglaries committed by Wilson and others. Evidence introduced at Wilson’s preliminary hearing touched on two uncharged out-of-county home burglaries in Fountain Valley and Santa Barbara.
The prosecutor described the people behind the spree as “a sophisticated criminal organization that targeted victims who were owners of small businesses.”
Wilson’s alleged accomplices have not been arrested. Nikoletich said none of the property or money taken in the burglaries was recovered. One family suffered more than $800,000 in losses, she said.
