SUN VALLEY : Man Found Guilty in Fatal Shooting
A Pacoima man was convicted of second-degree murder Friday for shooting a Duarte man when a drug deal went sour in Sun Valley.
Javier Moreno, 20, faces a maximum term of 20 years to life in state prison for killing Christopher Mark Zink, 32, on July 10, 1992.
Zink, his brother and another man drove to the 12000 block of Runnymede Street, near Laurel Canyon Boulevard in Sun Valley, in search of cocaine, said Deputy Dist. Atty. Paula Gonzales.
Moreno presented what he purported to be cocaine, but the customers had doubts as to whether they were really purchasing drugs, according to evidence presented at Moreno’s trial in Van Nuys Superior Court.
During a struggle over the money that Zink intended to use for payment, Moreno pulled out a .22-caliber handgun and shot Zink once in the chest, Gonzales said.
The bullet went through Zink’s heart, and although his brother immediately drove him to a hospital, he died soon after.
Defense attorney Michael Duffey argued to the jury that Moreno should have been acquitted because the gun accidentally discharged during the struggle over the money.
Superior Court Judge Kathryne Ann Stoltz scheduled a Sept. 9 sentencing hearing.
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