Sentencing Scheduled for Man Convicted of Killing Roommate

A Diamond Bar man convicted of killing his former roommate is scheduled to be sentenced next month.

During a court hearing held July 20, a Pomona Superior Court judge set Kyle Jacobs sentencing for 8:30 a.m. Aug. 27 in Department N.

A month earlier, on June 21, a jury found Jacobs guilty of voluntary manslaughter. The 12 jurors, six men and six women, delivered their verdict after deliberating for a day and a half.

Jacobs avoided a murder conviction because his attorney Matthew Kaestner successfully argued that his client was defending himself against former roommate Ryan Modica, who threatened to attack his client on April of 2011.

“I don’t think there was any chance (Jacobs) was going to get convicted of murder,” Kaestner said following the verdict. “I don’t even think the DA ever thought that was a possibility.”

Jacobs told authorities he shot 39-year-old Modica on April 7, after the man came at him with a hammer. Modica had been evicted from the home just prior to the incident for being late on his rent and because the home’s owner, Christine Jacob’s - Ryan’s mother - suspected her renter was selling drugs.

Modica reportedly confronted Jacobs at the home in the 1100 block of North Del Sol Lane. The defense claims Modica moved toward Jacobs to attack forcing him to fire a shotgun. The blast struck Modica in the face, killing him.

The prosecution countered that Jacobs knew Modica wanted to confront him, welcomed the confrontation. Prosecutor T.D. Pham insisted Jacobs could have called authorities but instead chose to take the law into his own hands.