Local News in Brief : Arleta Man Convicted in Death of Woman in Pacoima Shooting
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An Arleta man was convicted Thursday of fatally shooting a woman in the face and wounding a man in the leg in a Pacoima parking lot last December.
A San Fernando Superior Court jury deliberated for about half a day before convicting Carlos Montes, 24, of one count of first-degree murder in the Dec. 28 slaying of Patricia Lemus, 21, in a parking lot at Laurel Canyon Boulevard and Rinaldi Street.
The jury also convicted Montes of one count of assault with a deadly weapon in the shooting of Ernest Acosta, who sought to prevent him from leaving the scene.
Witnesses testified during the trial that Montes apparently was looking for a man who beat up his brother when he rode into the parking lot on a motorcycle brandishing a gun about 9:45 p.m.
Most of the people in the lot ducked behind their cars but Lemus drew attention to herself by running to a car to protect her baby, who was inside, said Deputy Dist. Atty. Shellie L. Samuels. Montes then shot her because he “just wanted to kill somebody,” Samuels said.
Montes could be sentenced to 34 years to life in prison, Samuels said. Montes is to be sentenced on Jan. 8 in San Fernando Superior Court.
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