A San Diego barber was sentenced to ten years in jail Thursday for the attempted murder of U.S. Navy Petty Officer Tim Vaughn.
Daniel Roberto Flores, 22, who pled guilty, was sentenced by Judge Gerry Haehnle after a probationary report suggested eight years as Flores had no prior convictions on his record.
Flores was giving Vaughn a haircut at Vic's Barber Shop when Flores attacked the enlisted sailor. Vaughan was the only customer in the shop at the time, when Flores suggested a straight razor shave.
During that time, Flores boasted, "I could cut your throat." He did just that.
Using two cuts, Flores slashed Vaughn's neck in a scene taken straight out of Sweeney Todd. Flores fled the scene on his bicycle, leaving Vaughn to die in a pool of his own blood.
In court Thursday, Vaughn recounted his experience:
"I felt this incredible pain... There was so much blood. 'Where is everyone?' I put pressure on it. It hurt so much. I felt this huge hole. 'Somebody help me.' There's blood all over my shirt, all over the floor. 'Somebody please help me.' I guess my training kicked in."
Vaughn's career in the U.S. Navy came to a screeching halt that day. He was up to be promoted to Chief Petty Officer, and the attempted murder stopped that. He never got the promotion.
His ship deployed without him as Vaughn had endure physical therapy to repair his devastated neck and throat.
"Instead of being a shoulder for my wife to lean on, I get to go home and have my family babysit me, wash me and feed me and deal with my — my pain, anxiety, nightmares, sleepless nights."
Nearly a dozen other Naval personnel showed up at the court proceedings in a move of solidarity with their injured brother-in-arms. One of them claimed that if their ship had not been deployed, more sailors would have shown up to the court proceedings.
Flores was found to have "hints of mental illness," but that did not stop Judge Haehnle from giving him the max sentence saying, "He had no audio or visual hallucinations, no self-defense issues... He just doesn't remember."
His attorney claims that Flores was just "was going through some difficult times with psychiatric issues." His attorney also claimed that he was remorseful for the attack, but he did not speak to the court.
Flores did not give a reason for attacking the sailor.
Judge Haehnle summed up the proceedings saying, "Mr. Vaughn trusted this man to do what a barber would do... [He] suffered tremendously and still suffers to this day."
Video from Daily Mail
H/T Reddit