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A 55-year-old man who shot a guest at an El Monte baptism party nearly 24 years ago was convicted Monday of voluntary manslaughter.
Angel Barraza had been charged with murder in the death of Roberto Delgado on Sept. 4, 1993, but jurors found him guilty of the lesser count after about a day of deliberations. He is set to be sentenced June 22.
Deputy District Attorney Ross Alari said Delgado and his cousin were walking out of the party, which was held at a private residence, about 9 p.m. when the shots rang out.
Two bullets struck Delgado and four .45-caliber shell casings were recovered at the scene, Alari told jurors.
Both Delgado and Barraza were from Durango, Mexico. Delgado’s wife and 14-year-old daughter returned there to bury him and spotted Barraza in town, according to the prosecutor.
Police searched for Barraza and a warrant was issued, but it wasn’t until Barraza returned to the border town of Presidio, Texas, in 2015 to renew his expired resident alien card that he was picked up by Customs and Border Protection officers and held for police.
He had been living in Camargo, Mexico. When officers noted that his card — in the name of Jose Angel Barraza Gomez — had expired 14 years earlier, they fingerprinted Barraza and found a warrant for his arrest in the system.
–City News Service
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