Gang member is convicted of murdering Huntington Beach woman, 19, and hiding her body in a cooler

A gang member was convicted of fatally shooting a 19-year-old Huntington Beach woman and hiding her body in a cooler, authorities said.

Anthony Robert Moreno, 40, was found guilty Thursday of first-degree murder and possession of a firearm by a felon, the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office announced Friday.

Dawn McEveety was killed Nov. 24, 2015, at a residence in Artesia, according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.

Authorities said Moreno shot her inside the detached garage at the home, which was known as a gang hangout.

Afterward, Moreno placed the body in a cooler and took it to the Whittier area, where it was left in a stolen vehicle, the district attorney’s office said.

Sheriff’s deputies responded to a report of an abandoned vehicle Nov. 29, 2015. A 1991 Toyota Celica hatchback was discovered with a strong odor that indicated decomposition, and a body was found “entombed in a large container” in the rear cargo area, authorities said.

When Moreno was identified as a suspect in 2016, he was in state prison on an unrelated charge.

Moreno, whom authorities described as a documented gang member, previously was convicted of various firearms charges and driving a stolen vehicle.

Jurors found that Moreno intentionally shot the rifle that resulted in McEveety’s death. They also affirmed a special allegation that the murder was committed to benefit a street gang with the intent to promote its criminal conduct, authorities said.

Moreno is scheduled to be sentenced Aug. 1. He faces a maximum of life in state prison.