Man Pleads Guilty To Shooting Man, Setting Body Ablaze

CHULA VISTA, CA — A man who fatally shot another man, then burned the victim's body in National City, pleaded guilty this week to charges of voluntary manslaughter and mutilation of human remains.

Juan Carlos Acosta-Sanchez, 43, is expected to be sentenced to nearly 17 years in state prison for the October 2022 killing of 55-year-old Jaime Barba.

Barba's body was discovered at the scene of a Harbison Avenue blaze that National City firefighters responded to just after 1:30 a.m. Oct. 5.

Investigators determined that Barba had suffered multiple gunshot wounds and was killed in San Diego two days before the fire, according to Lt. Steve Shebloski of the San Diego Police Department.

The lieutenant said Acosta-Sanchez and Barba knew one another and met up in the Egger Highlands neighborhood on Oct. 3, where Barba was shot during an argument. Acosta-Sanchez was arrested in Imperial Beach on Oct. 7.

— City News Service