Defendant Austin Eis pleads guilty in deadly attack near Thousand Oaks campus

A man who killed a 15-year-old boy when he intentionally drove his car into a crowd of students outside Westlake High School almost two years ago pleaded guilty Friday to murdering the youth, six attempted murders and other violent felonies.

Austin Allen Eis faces a term of 85 years to life in prison although state law says he must be considered for parole in 24 years, prosecutor Amber Lee said after he pleaded guilty.

Eis, 26, changed his plea to guilty on 10 felony counts in Ventura County Superior Court as at least one victim, somber family members and law enforcement officers gathered in the crowded courtroom. He waived his right to appeal the terms of his plea except for future restitution orders.

Kelly Welling, mother of the slain youth, Wesley Welling, said after the hearing that the loss of her son is just overwhelming.

“Everyday we wake up without Wesley,” she said.

If she could talk with Eis, she would ask why, she said.

Eis was charged with a string of crimes that reportedly began when he attacked clerks in a Simi Valley Walmart store, then drove to his father and stepmother’s home in Camarillo where he attempted unsuccessfully to get a gun before using his car as a weapon in the attack outside the high school in Thousand Oaks. He did not know the boy he killed.

Eis changed his plea after reaching an agreement with the Ventura County District Attorney’s Office as his trial on a larger number of charges loomed next month. He faced a maximum sentence of 177 years to life based on the full set of charges. Numerous counts will be dismissed at sentencing, according to the court docket.

Parties often strike such agreements to avoid the time and expense of trial, plus spare witnesses the need to testify about traumatic events like the attack at a bus stop outside the Thousand Oaks campus.

Eis pleaded guilty in a strong and unemotional voice inside a fenced area of the courtroom reserved for jail inmates. Judge David Hirsch set sentencing on April 14 and a sentencing hearing on March 11. Typically, family members who have been impacted by the crimes deliver statements at the sentencing hearing.

The defense and prosecution agreed to the term of 85 years to life based on each count to which he pleaded guilty.

He is not eligible for the state’s maximum penalty of life without parole for certain murders because his acts are not “special circumstance” crimes under California law. Those crimes include murders committed in the commission of certain violent felonies, with poison, by lying in wait or under a host of other circumstances.

Lee said she hoped he would never be released.

Neither Eis nor his defense attorney, Melanie Miles, commented on his pleas during the hearing. Miles did tell Hirsch that she believes her client is subject to three years of parole upon release. The prosecution argued he would be on parole for the rest of his life.

Eis wanted to die in a “suicide by cop” confrontation or to commit a crime that would bring a life sentence, according to testimony at an earlier hearing. The defendant felt he was belittled at the school that he had once attended, testimony showed.

The time and courtroom for sentencing are pending. Eis remains confined to county jail without bail.

Kathleen Wilson covers courts, mental health and local government issues for the Ventura County Star. Reach her at kathleen.wilson@vcstar.com.

This article originally appeared on Ventura County Star: Austin Eis pleads guilty in deadly attack at Westlake High School

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