Gang member gets 50 years to life in prison for murdering Huntington Beach woman whose body was stuffed in a cooler
A gang member was sentenced Wednesday to 50 years to life in prison for fatally shooting a 19-year-old Huntington Beach woman whose body was found stuffed in a cooler in an abandoned car, authorities said.
A Los Angeles County jury on July 12 convicted Anthony Robert Moreno, 40, of Hacienda Heights of first-degree murder and possession of a firearm by a felon in the 2015 slaying of Dawn Molly McEveety.
Jurors also affirmed a special allegation that the killing was committed for the benefit of a criminal street gang with the intent to promote its criminal conduct.
Prosecutors said Moreno shot McEveety on Nov. 24, 2015, in the detached garage of a home in Artesia that was known as a gang hangout.
Moreno placed the body in a cooler and took it to the Whittier area, where it was left in a stolen 1991 Toyota Celica hatchback, prosecutors said.
Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies found McEveety’s body in the Celica five days later. The car emitted a strong odor that indicated decomposition, authorities said.
Moreno was identified as a suspect in 2016 when he was in state prison in an unrelated case.
Moreno, whom authorities described as a documented gang member, previously was convicted of various firearms charges and driving a stolen vehicle.
Twitter: @HannahFryTCN
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