Erick Estrada convicted of 2013 murder of Gabriel Gutierrez and attempted murder of two others
VENTURA COUNTY, Calif. – Ventura County District Attorney Erik Nasarenko announced on Wednesday that Erick Estrada was convicted for the first-degree murder of Gabriel Gutierrez in July of 2013.
Estrada was also convicted for the attempted murder and assault with a firearm of Michael Owens and Thomas Bakkila detail Ventura County District Attorney's Office.
Additionally, the jury that convicted Estrada found true all of the special allegations and aggravating factors associated with the murder of Gutierrez as well as the attempted murder and assault with a firearm convictions explain Ventura County District Attorney's Office.
Estrada was convicted on all of the following violations:
- PC 187(a)-Murder
- PC 664/187(a)-Attempted Murder {Two counts}
- PC 245(a)(2)-Assault with a Deadly Weapon {Two counts}
The jury found true the following special allegations:
- PC 190.2(a)(15)-Murder While Lying in Wait
- PC 12022.53(d)-Personal and Intentional Discharge of a Firearm
- PC 12022.5(a)(1)-Use of a Firearm
- PC 12022.7(a)-Inflicting Great Bodily Harm
On Jun. 15, 2013, Estrada and a juvenile co-defendant confronted two men near the Ventura Pier and a fistfight started between the juvenile and Owens and Bakkila state Ventura County District Attorney's Office.
According to the Ventura County District Attorney's Office, Estrada fired a handgun multiple times at both men who sustained gunshot wounds, but survived their injuries.
On Jul. 31, 2013, Estrada and a different juvenile co-defendant confronted Gutierrez inside the Ventura County Fairgrounds and challenged him to a fight state Ventura County District Attorney's Office.
The parties moved to a secluded area near a train trestle at the river bottom after leaving the fairgrounds and a fistfight between the juvenile and Gutierrez ensued detail Ventura County District Attorney's Office.
According to the Ventura County District Attorney's Office, Estrada fired multiple rounds from his handgun killing Gutierrez at the scene.
The Ventura Police Department arrested Estrada for the murder after an investigation of the incident on Jul. 22, 2014, at the Ventura County Jail where he was being held in connection with the attempted murder at the Ventura Pier detail Ventura County District Attorney's Office.
“I am grateful to the Ventura Police Department for their tireless investigation into these incidents, as well as to this jury for the hard work they did in sifting through the voluminous amounts of evidence presented in this case to reach the appropriate verdicts," said Senior Deputy District Attorney John Barrick who prosecuted the case. "I firmly believe the jury made our community safer with their verdicts today.”
Estrada is currently scheduled for sentencing on Apr. 11, 2024 in courtroom 47 of the Ventura County Superior Court and he remains in custody without bail state Ventura County District Attorney's Office.
