Carpinteria Man Found Guilty of Manslaughter from 2019 Fight

Source: Santa Barbara County District Attorney

Santa Barbara County District Attorney Joyce E. Dudley announced today that a jury found Scott Robert Fleming, guilty, as charged, of voluntary manslaughter, assault with force likely to produce great bodily injury, and battery causing serious bodily injury, as well as, a special allegation for personally inflicting great bodily injury in the killing of Eric Romero.

Joyce Dudley stated, “This significant conviction was possible due to exceptional work on the part of our Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office and members of the public who witnessed a terrible crime and called 911. This successful prosecution was a direct result of the hard and smart work of Detective Travis Henderson and Senior DDA Kevin Weichbrod.”

The charges stemmed from an assault in Carpinteria the early morning of July 20, 2019. After various altercations between a group of friends, the defendant turned on Mr. Romero, who was trying to de-escalate the situation. The defendant assaulted Mr. Romero, knocking him unconscious and causing him to fall back and hit his head on the concrete. Mr. Romero succumbed to his injuries several hours later at Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital. The defendant fled the scene shortly after the assault and was apprehended by Sherriff’s Detectives several days later in Ventura.

The defendant will be sentenced in Department 1 of the Santa Barbara Superior Court on October 14, 2021 and faces a possible 27 years in State Prison due to his prior serious felony conviction.

Scott Robert Fleming (Photo: Santa Barbara Sheriff’s Office)