A jury has convicted gang banger Fernando Nanda Torres, 31, of Santa Ana, for the 2010 murder of a man shot in the head while walking away from a house party.
That sets Torres up for a possible sentence of 50 years to life in state prison at a hearing scheduled for Aug. 17 in Santa Ana, although the defendant's attorney told City News Service he will seek a new trial.
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Santa Ana resident Michael Barragan and his friends were partying in the home of Patrick John Palomino, 46, in the 400
block of North Newhope Street near Fifth Street in Santa Ana on March 13, 2010.
Around 1:30 a.m., an argument broke out between Barragan's party and Palomino's party. As Barragan and his friends were leaving, he was shot in the head by Torres. Police arrived to find Barragan on the ground with a gunshot wound to the head. He later died at UCI Medical Center.
Michael Barragan, 2010 OC Homicide No. 7: Executed at a House Party
Torres was convicted Thursday of
first-degree murder with a sentencing enhancement for gang activity.
Palomino, who is also a longtime gang member, was originally charged with murder and gang sentencing enhancements in the case. He pleaded guilty to assault with a deadly weapon in January 2010.
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OC Weekly Editor-in-Chief Matt Coker has been engaging, enraging and entertaining readers of newspapers, magazines and websites for decades. He spent the first 13 years of his career in journalism at daily newspapers before “graduating” to OC Weekly in 1995 as the alternative newsweekly’s first calendar editor.