Three separate Sacramento Superior Court juries have returned first-degree murder convictions against the three defendants accused in the March 26, 2010, shooting death of Salvador Heredia-Arriaga, an assistant football coach at Natomas High School.
Jurors today convicted the accused shooter in the case, Dejon Wayne Murray, 19, but they could not reach agreement on the prosecutor's allegation that the defendant personally fired the bullet that killed the 26-year-old Heredia-Arriaga.
Kenneth Oliver Owens Jr., 24, was convicted on Wednesday, and the jury in Maurice Edward Reed Jr.'s case came back with a guilty verdict Tuesday.
The three were accused of attempting to rob two men in a River Plaza Drive apartment building in South Natomas. The defendants suspected the two men were marijuana dealers, prosecutors said. During the course of the robbery, Heredia-Arriaga, a law school student and UC Santa Cruz graduate, visited the apartment and was shot and killed when he playfully reached for a gunman's weapon, according to testimony at trial.
Judge Patrick Marlette scheduled the defendants' sentencing for Nov. 18.
KCRA: Convictions in Natomas football coach murder case - Oct. 21, 2011









About Comments
Reader comments on Sacbee.com are the opinions of the writer, not The Sacramento Bee. If you see an objectionable comment, click the "report abuse" button below it. We will delete comments containing inappropriate links, obscenities, hate speech, and personal attacks. Flagrant or repeat violators will be banned. See more about comments here.