ANAHEIM : Man Guilty of Murder in Teen’s Shooting

An Anaheim man who was arrested after a major gang sweep has been found guilty of first-degree murder in the shooting death of a 15-year-old boy in 1992.

Manuel Antonio Quinonez, 21, was convicted in the death of Francisco Hernandez, also of Anaheim, who was fatally shot on Oct. 27, 1992, near the corner of Mountain View and Orangewood avenues.

A Superior Court jury determined eight days ago that Quinonez was one of a group of people in a car that drove up to Hernandez and fired several shots, court officials said.

Hernandez was walking on the street when he was confronted by the group, who asked where he was from. He was shot five or six times times moments later.

During the same trial, Quinonez also was found guilty of two counts of assault with a deadly weapon and three counts of attempted murder in a July, 1992, shooting in which two boys, ages 4 and 7, were wounded. The boys were caught in a cross-fire of a gun battle between Quinonez’s gang and a rival gang in the Jeffrey-Lynne neighborhood.

Quinonez was walking with a group of people on July 6, 1992, when a carload of people opened fire at him and the others. Quinonez then chased after the car and pumped bullets at it with a handgun. Some of the shots missed the car but struck the two boys who were trying to hide from the shootout.

Investigators arrested Quinonez in October of that year during a police raid of various cities throughout northern Orange County.

He faces a sentence of 56 years to life in prison, Anaheim police Lt. Ted LeBahn said. Sentencing is set for Dec. 8.