VENTURA : Jury Convicts Youth of Shooting Clerk
A 17-year-old boy was found guilty of attempted murder and assault Thursday for shooting a Ventura liquor store clerk and aiming a gun at the victim’s girlfriend in June.
Tristan Mena, a former Thousand Oaks resident who was living in a Ventura hotel when he was arrested, was convicted by a Ventura County Superior Court jury after about five hours of deliberation.
According to testimony in the trial, which began Oct. 15, Mena was ejected June 29 from a California Street liquor store managed by Sarkis (Sammy) Abdulhai. The next night, Abdulhai and his girlfriend, Bonnie Hooper, were walking from the liquor store to a nearby restaurant when Mena accosted them, witnesses testified.
Mena fired five shots, four of which struck and injured Abdulhai, according to trial testimony. Mena then pointed the gun at Hooper and pulled the trigger, but the gun did not fire, witnesses testified.
Mena faces a maximum sentence of life in prison plus nine years, Deputy Dist. Atty. Terence M. Kilbride said. Judge Steven Z. Perren scheduled sentencing for Nov. 25.
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