San Jose: Man sentenced 25 years to life for killing Safeway clerk in Willow Glen

SAN JOSE — A man was sentenced Monday to 25 years to life in prison for fatally shooting a stock clerk trying to stop him from stealing a bottle of liquor at a Safeway in Willow Glen two years ago, according to authorities and court records.

Tevita Tuakalau was 18 when he shot and killed 24-year-old Manny Huizar in the middle of a grocery aisle on June 5, 2022. Tuakalau pleaded no contest to first-degree murder last May, nine months after he was arrested in Utah and later extradited back to the Bay Area to face criminal charges.

Tuakalau was also given an additional three-year sentence, which will run on top of the 25-to-life term, for using a gun in the murder of Huizar. Judge Nona Klippen rejected a harsher sentencing enhancement that would have doubled the defendant’s prison time, noting Tuakalau’s age and history of childhood trauma.

Klippen also sentenced him to three years in prison for assault with a deadly weapon after Tuakalau pistol-whipped a second Safeway employee in his haste to flee. That sentence will run concurrently with the primary prison term, meaning it won’t add to his total time of imprisonment.

According to San Jose police investigators, around 3:30 a.m. the morning of the shooting, Huizar walked over to where Tuakalau was visibly trying to take liquor from a shelf. Huizar did not physically intervene, but made his presence known to deter the theft, and started talking with Tuakalau in a conversation that lasted at least two minutes.

At some point during the encounter, Tuakalau hit Huizar and tried to make off with the liquor bottle, sparking a physical struggle that ended with Tuakalau shooting the clerk. He then fled the store, assaulting another employee on the way, and got into a car that drove away.

A two-and-a-half month search for the suspects ensued, ending with the arrest of Tuakalau, a San Jose native. An alleged accomplice was also arrested, but he was not charged after prosecutors determined they did not have enough evidence to prove he participated in the killing.

Huizar’s eldest brother told the Bay Area News Group on Tuesday that the trial and Monday’s sentencing hearing forced their family to open up old wounds and relive the worst day of their lives.

“It was a really hard day for myself and my family,” Guillermo Huizar said. “It was a day with a lot of emotions.”

Deputy District Attorney Carolyn Malinsky lauded the San Jose police investigation that turned an initially unidentifiable security camera image into a tangible suspect, and called the shooting “incredibly tragic.” After the sentencing, she put focus on the man the community lost to violence.

“He was clearly incredibly loved and then he was somebody who had such a future ahead of him,” Malinsky said. “He was the kind of worker who cared if somebody was trying to steal and was trying to stop it. He tried to stop it by talking to Mr. Tuakalau and by just standing in the aisle. For that, he ended up getting shot and losing his life.”

Guillermo Huizar said he had sympathy for Tuakalau’s family, and that it was difficult “walking into the court room and seeing (Tuakalau’s) family and the emotions that they also had.

“They’re humans,” he said. “They also lost someone.”

He also confirmed that Tuakalau’s family offered their apologies to the Huizar family, both in the form of a letter written by Tuakalau’s aunt and in a passionate courtroom speech from his grandmother.

Guillermo Huizar said he appreciated the sentiment from the family, but that that the deep, aching pain and anger from the loss of his brother won’t be relieved that easily.

“I would love to tell you yes, I forgive him,” Guillermo said, referring to Tuakalau. “But if I tell you I do forgive him I’m just lying to you and myself. Right now I can’t think about that.”

After the sentencing hearing was complete Monday and both families exited the chamber, both families exchanged words and hugs. Guillermo said he “blacked out” at this moment, overcome with emotion.

“Only time will heal,” he said. “Maybe in the future if I see them again for court or something, maybe things will be a little more different.”