A 25-year-old man was sentenced Friday, Dec. 12, to 44 years to life in prison for fatally shooting another man in Anaheim four years ago in what defense attorneys said was a dispute over a vehicle purchase.
Richard Flores was convicted Oct. 23 of second-degree murder.
He gunned down 30-year-old Jefferson Diaz on the 1700 block of West Glenoaks Avenue, about a quarter-mile west of Euclid Street, before midnight on April 16, 2021.
Armed with an AR-15-style rifle, Flores went looking for Diaz in an alley, prosecutors said. When he found Diaz at his garage, the victim repeatedly asked Flores to “Put the gun down.”
When Diaz tried to snatch the rifle away, Flores “stepped back and fired the rifle one time at the victim’s midsection and killed him,” prosecutors said.
Flores ran away and hid the weapon near his uncle’s home in Pomona, prosecutors said.
The defendant’s attorney argued it was an accidental discharge, according to court papers. A dispute over a vehicle purchase led to the conflict, defense attorneys said.