Ventura Killer To Die In Prison

Thursday April 11, 2024

     Updated--A Ventura County judge Thursday sentenced a man convicted of murder, two attempted murders, and other crimes to spend the rest of his life in prison with no chance of ever getting out alive.

     The judge sentenced 35-year-old Erick Estrada of Ventura to Life in Prison Without Parole, plus another 126-years-to-life in prison.

     A jury in February found Estrada guilty of murder in the fatal shooting of 18-year-old Gabriel Gutierrez of Ventura in 2013.

     Gutierrez was found shot to death on the bike path behind the fairgrounds.

     The shooting was reportedly the violent end to a verbal confrontation that started in the fairgrounds.

     In addition to the murder charge, Estrada was also found guilty of two counts of attempted murder in a separate shooting incident, also in 2013, in Ventura in which the two victims survived.

     The jury also found true a Special Circumstance Allegation of Murder by Lying in Wait.

     The jury deliberated for less than 2 days before returning their verdicts.