Man gets 27 years in fatal Mahtomedi drive-by shooting

The judge looked weary from not having slept all night. The killer was nervous, fidgeting in his seat over what was about to take place. Behind him in the packed Washington County courtroom, his family members and friends and those of the popular teacher and bar owner he shot wept as they waited to learn the 19-year-old's fate.

Finally, after nearly four hours of testimony, District Judge Ellen Maas meted out Bailey Jordan Garcia's punishment — 27 years in prison for shooting and killing David Frigaard, 46, in the dark of a winter morning in Mahtomedi.

"I haven't seen this many tears shed in a courtroom, probably ever," defense attorney Ryan Pacyga said as he debated prosecutor Imran Ali over how long Garcia should be imprisoned for a senseless and inexplicable crime.

Sobs were audible throughout the hearing as attorneys argued the extent to which Garcia's history of depression and hard drinking should influence Maas' decision.

After six people spoke on behalf of Garcia and five for Frigaard, Maas took a break to weigh her decision. After a 35-minute recess, she returned to the courtroom to reject the defense motion for a lighter sentence, which was based on Garcia's age and troubled mental health history.

The state sentencing guidelines for second-degree murder while committing a drive-by shooting range from nearly 22 years in prison to a maximum of 30.5.

Before announcing the sentence, Maas acknowledged the intense outpouring of emotion by both families — including Garcia's parents and brothers and Frigaard's wife, sisters and mother — and revealed that she hadn't slept the previous night because she found the case so troubling. "These two worlds have collided, and you'll all have to figure out where to go from here," she said. "It won't be easy."

'Struggles every day'

In arguing for a shorter sentence, Pacyga said that before the shooting, Garcia "suffered from a variety of psychological issues," including depression, anxiety and attempted suicide. He had joined the Mahtomedi Fire Department as a volunteer and was striving to find a direction in life when, at 3:19 a.m. on Jan. 24, he aimed a 30.06 rifle at a pickup driven by Frigaard, who had just pulled a shift at the bar he owned in nearby Willernie.

In pleading guilty in May, Garcia never explained why he did it.

Frigaard was shot once from about 200 yards away as he leaned forward to look for traffic before pulling out from a stop sign. He died instantly when the bullet tore through his heart and lungs.

Ali, meanwhile, said Garcia fled the scene, didn't render aid and offered confusing stories to deputies who came across his crashed vehicle not far from where Frigaard's body was found. Garcia first said he heard a gunshot that scared him, then said he shot at a wolf, then at a deer, Ali said.

"He was the sole executioner and the one who pulled the trigger," said Ali, who also noted that the rifle had a scope and that a box of ammunition was spilled in Garcia's vehicle.

Pacyga, however, told the court that Garcia "knows what he did and swiftly took responsibility for it." He also said that Garcia "struggles every day with a battle inside his mind and heart that the rest of us can't understand."

For family, 'a life sentence'

Frigaard, the father of a girl and two boys, was in his fourth year as an art teacher at Park High School in Cottage Grove. He also mentored at-risk students, coached sports, and advised a club of gay, lesbian and transgender students.

His wife, Denise, to whom he was married for 18 years, said when delivering a victim-impact statement that "we've been given a life sentence" and that a future without Frigaard is "terrifying, so uncertain and alone."

Frigaard had owned the bar and had worked other part-time jobs, in addition to teaching at the high school, so that his wife could be home with their children, she said.

Garcia, who shook and cried through most of the hearing, finally spoke at the end. "Not a time goes by when I don't think about the victim's family and friends," he told Maas. "What's happened, it's not me. I'll do something in the honor of Mr. Frigaard. I mean it, I will."

Garcia, who lived in nearby Pine Springs, will spend at least 18 years of his sentence in prison before he's eligible for supervised release. He also was ordered to pay nearly $30,000 in restitution, to be taken from his prison wages.

Avis Frigaard, David's mother, said the irony was that David would have been the first to come to the aid of a confused and suicidal Bailey Garcia if they had ever met.

Kevin Giles • 651-925-5037