Advertisement

Santa Monica man found guilty of fatally shooting teenager

Share

A Santa Monica man was found guilty Tuesday of murdering an 18-year-old teenager last year, the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office said.

A jury found Sherwin Espinosa, 43, guilty of one count of second-degree murder. Espinosa faces up to 40 years in prison.

The victim, 18-year-old Juan Castillo, was a former Santa Monica High School student who played football, according to NBC.

Advertisement

Santa Monica police found Castillo with a gunshot wound in the head shortly after 5 a.m. on Feb. 26, 2017, in the 1300 block of 16th Street in Santa Monica, officials said.

Detectives were able to link Castillo’s death to a different shooting that occurred earlier that morning at around 12:45 a.m. in the 2100 block of Pico Boulevard, Santa Monica police said in a statement last year.

Police arrested and filed charges against Espinosa in May 2017.

He is scheduled to be sentenced on Oct. 12.

melissa.etehad@latimes.com

Follow me on Twitter @melissaetehad

Advertisement