Former political consultant pleads guilty in stabbing death

By Jeff German

Wednesday, June 10, 2009 | 9:51 a.m.

Michael Chambliss, a retired city employee and longtime political consultant, pleaded guilty this morning in the Nov. 9, 2005 stabbing death of a convenience store clerk.

Videotapes at the 7-Eleven store near Torrey Pines Drive and Charleston Boulevard showed Chambliss stabbing 26-year-old Vincent Ekeoba Moses, who was also a boxer from Nigeria.

Chambliss, 55, pleaded guilty to one count of voluntary manslaughter with the use of a deadly weapon.

District Judge David Barker, who accepted the plea, said Chambliss faces up to 10 years in prison on the manslaughter charge and up to a $10,000 fine. He faces an additional 1 to 10 years because a deadly weapon was used in the crime.

Chambliss, who is free on bail, declined to comment outside the courtroom after the plea.

His sentencing is set for Aug. 10.

The plea, the result of an agreement with the district attorney's office, puts an end to a case that has been lingering in the court system for more than 3 1/2 years.

Negotiations have been taking place off and on the past several months.

Prior to the slaying, Chambliss was a paid political consultant for former Clark County Commissioner Yvonne Atkinson Gates.