Driver found guilty in the death of a man who was sent flying 15 feet in California
A 29-year-old driver has been found guilty in the 2016 killing of another man after he was accused of sending him flying 15 feet to his death in California, prosecutors said.
Frank Hillman was convicted of a second-degree murder charge by a grand jury on Aug. 4 in the death of Shawn Bivins, the Kern County District Attorney’s Office said in a Facebook post.
In August 2016, the two got into an argument outside a motel in Bakersfield, prosecutors said.
When Hillman began to drive away, Bivins threw a wrench at his vehicle, officials said.
Hillman turned around and struck Bivins with the vehicle in the motel driveway, sending him flying 15 feet into a fence, prosecutors said.
Then he drove through a locked gate while fleeing from the scene, officials said. The incident was caught on camera.
Bivins died and had blunt force trauma injuries that were consistent with someone “bungee jumping, having the cord snap, and landing on their head,” a pathologist said, according to officials.
Hillman eventually returned to the scene where Bivins died and investigators linked him to the man’s death, prosecutors said.
“Settling disputes with deadly acts of violence will not be tolerated. When used intentionally as a weapon, a vehicle can cause injury just as readily as a firearm can,” Kern County District Attorney Cynthia Zimmer said in the post. “Regardless of the method employed or weapon used, intentional killings will be prosecuted for murder or manslaughter.”
Hillman will be sentenced on Sept. 22. He faces up to 15 years to life in prison.
Bakersfield is about 110 miles southeast of Fresno.
