Bailey Jordan Garcia will go to prison for the fatal middle-of-the-night shooting last winter of a popular Cottage Grove high school teacher. But in pleading guilty to the crime in court Wednesday, Garcia never explained why he did it.
That answer remains muddled in mental health problems, attempted suicides and heavy drinking, Garcia's attorney said Wednesday after the 19-year-old Pine Springs resident pleaded guilty to shooting David Frigaard with a high-powered rifle on Jan. 24.
"The parties both recognize in this case that it was genuinely a tragedy for two families," said the attorney, Ryan Pacyga. "There's no answer to the 'why?' We have a situation where a 19-year-old is going to prison for a long time"
Garcia, shaky and tearful before Judge Ellen Maas, acknowledged his guilt and pleaded to unintentional second-degree murder by drive-by shooting for killing Frigaard, who had just left the bar he owned in Willernie when a round Garcia fired from a 30.06 rifle penetrated his lungs and heart.
"Remorse and bewilderment," is how Pacyga, after the hearing, described Garcia's mental state. "I think he's wondering sometimes if this is all a bad dream."
Frigaard's family, including his parents, sat directly behind Garcia in the Washington County courtroom while Pacyga and prosecutor Imran Ali peppered him with questions.
Garcia gave mostly one-word answers before being led back to jail to await his sentencing, which Maas set for Aug. 14.
Frigaard left the bar in Willernie — Pine Springs and Willernie are small cities adjacent to Mahtomedi — about 3:30 a.m. Jan. 24 and pulled his vehicle to a stop sign about a block away. That's when Garcia fired a single round from inside his vehicle, killing Frigaard, 46.
