A Sacramento Superior Court jury today convicted Michael S. Walton of second-degree murder in the April 17, 2011, shooting death of Christopher Michael Milas at an after-hours house party in Del Paso Heights.
Walton, 25, fired several shots from his stolen 9mm semi-automatic handgun when the promoters of the party at a house-turned-club they called the "Alibi" had asked him to leave. Walton claimed he fired in self-defense in the 3:30 a.m. shooting when a physical altercation broke out at the crowded gathering that had been promoted through text messages and fliers.
Milas, 34, had worked for 12 years at Comcast before he was laid off just several days before the shooting, according to his aunt, Brenda Pruitt. She was in court today when the jury announced its verdict after two days of deliberations.
Besides the murder, jurors also convicted Walton on one count of attempted murder, five counts of assault with a deadly weapon, one count of being a felon in possession of a weapon and one count of receiving stolen property -- the gun was used to shoot up the party.
Judge Greta Curtis Fall scheduled Walton's sentencing for Oct. 5.
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