| For Immediate Release Case # 06HF1927
June 5, 2008 |
Susan Kang Schroeder Public Affairs Counsel Office: 714-347-8408 Cell: 714-292-2718 Farrah Emami |
MAN CONVICTED OF MURDERING ONE AND
INJURING FOUR IN COSTA MESA DRIVE-BY
SHOOTING AFTER DISPUTE OVER A GIRL
SANTA ANA – A man was convicted late yesterday afternoon of murdering one person and injuring four more in a drive-by shooting in Costa Mesa in a dispute over a girl. Joshua Anthony Blount, 24, Compton, was found guilty by a jury of one felony count of special circumstances murder with premeditation and deliberation, four felony counts of attempted murder, and sentencing enhancements for murder by drive-by shooting, the personal discharge of a firearm causing death, and the personal discharge of a firearm causing great bodily injury. He faces a sentence of life without the possibility of parole at his sentencing on July 24, 2008, at 9:00 a.m. in Department C-34, Central Justice Center, Santa Ana.
On Aug. 2, 2006, an unidentified female drove down an alley behind an apartment complex on Baker Street in Costa Mesa, where several men were standing having a conversation. The female began to speak to the group and eventually asked if they had seen Blount. The group became angry when they discovered that the female was associated with a group of men who had assaulted a 13-year-old from their apartment complex the day before. One of the men spit on the female’s car, causing her to leave and contact Blount. Approximately 30 to 45 minutes later, Blount drove down the alley and got into an argument with the group and then drove away. After Blount had driven away, Israel Maciel, who had not been involved in the earlier confrontation, arrived home from work and stopped to talk with the group standing outside the apartment complex.
After leaving the alley, Blount drove to Tustin and got a firearm from a friend’s house and then drove back to the alley, pulled out the firearm, and shot at the group of men. Blount shot and killed Maciel injured four other victims.
Senior Deputy District Attorney Matt Murphy of the Homicide Unit is prosecuting this case.
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