A young man convicted of killing a deaf man and wounding his brother after mistaking their sign language for aggressive gang signs was sentenced Tuesday to 12 years in the California Youth Authority.
Joey Paul Bellinger Jr., 19, had pleaded no contest to voluntary manslaughter and received the maximum term for shooting to death Cesar Vieira, 30, and wounding Edward Vieira, 28, in 1990.Bellinger is purportedly a member of KAOS, which police describe as a soft-core gang of white teenagers who are usually nonviolent. He and four others were in a car when they encountered the Vieira brothers waiting on a motorcycle at a traffic light.
Police said the deaf brothers were conversing in sign language and may not have understood what was about to happen.
One of the car passengers said Bellinger flashed a gang sign - a "K" for KAOS, and one of the brothers responded by raising his middle finger.
After a "stare down," the Vieira brothers were forced off the street and into a parking lot where a fight broke out and Bellinger started shooting.
After the shooting, Bellinger's parents helped him flee to upstate New York, where he was captured about a month later.
Both parents eventually pleaded no contest to accessory charges, and were sentenced to probation and community service.