A Santa Ana driver was convicted of homicide Tuesday for a Thanksgiving night time highway rage assault by which he opened hearth on a bunch of males in Costa Mesa, killing one among them, as his girlfriend and younger son sat in his pickup truck close by.
An Orange County Superior Court docket jury deliberated for lower than two hours earlier than discovering Lee Queuon Walker, 42, responsible of first-degree homicide for the killing of 30-year-old Lucas Rivera-Velasco within the 300 block of West Bay Avenue on Nov. 24, 2022.
Jurors additionally discovered Walker responsible of 5 counts of tried homicide associated to 5 different males who Walker shot at, 4 of whom have been struck by the gunfire and a fifth who escaped harm.
The lethal confrontation got here after the car River-Velasco and the opposite males have been touring in apparently clipped Walker’s truck, briefly snapping misplaced a side-view mirror that then popped again into place as designed.
A pissed off Walker had been driving in his 2021 Chevrolet Silverado together with his girlfriend and their 3-year-old son and looking for an open McDonald’s restaurant as a result of the boy needed rooster nuggets, however three eating places they'd stopped at have been closed as a result of vacation, based on testimony in the course of the trial.
Rivera-Velasco and the boys within the different car — a 2021 Chevrolet Silverado — have been pals and cousins who labored as landscapers and gardeners, and have been spending a uncommon time without work consuming and watching Mexico’s soccer group compete within the World Cup. The boys have been leaving a restaurant round 6:30 p.m. once they clipped Walker’s pickup, however they apparently didn’t discover as they listened to music and talked to at least one one other.
Walker drove after their pickup, leaping out of his car and pounding on the window of the truck once they stopped at a crimson gentle. The boys ignored Walker — presumably as a result of they didn’t perceive what he was saying — and drove off, based on testimony. Over his girlfriend’s objections, Walker drove after them.
Surveillance video confirmed the pickup with Rivera-Velasco and the opposite males parking on Bay Avenue as Walker’s pickup pulled up behind them. Walker, with a gun in his hand, ran as much as the opposite pickup, paused by the bumper, then opened hearth as two males obtained out of the car and moved towards him, the video confirmed. Walker then fired a volley of photographs into the pickup, in addition to a remaining gunshot into the face of one of many males who have been exterior the car as Walker ran again to his personal pickup.
Walker drove his girlfriend and son again to her dad and mom’ house in Santa Ana, and later turned himself in to police.
He testified that he believed he noticed two weapons within the different truck, and argued that he was standing his floor by following the boys, appearing with what he described as a “warrior intuition.”
“You'll both battle or you will flight, and I wasn’t going to run,” Walker mentioned when requested what he meant by “warrior intuition.”
Senior Deputy District Legal professional Dan Feldman advised jurors that Walker shot the boys as a result of he believed they'd disrespected him. The prosecutor alleged that Walker waited till the 2 automobiles have been on a much less populated aspect avenue earlier than attacking the boys.
“First they startled him, then they insulted him, so that they needed to pay,” Feldman mentioned throughout his closing arguments on Monday. “That's what that is about … He had already determined that that is how it's happening. They will pay.”
The prosecutor questioned why if Walker believed the opposite males have been armed he would hold following them when his girlfriend and son have been in his car. He advised jurors that Walker didn’t have the best to impress a confrontation after which declare self-defense.
“You don’t get to chase somebody down, rack a spherical, run as much as them and declare you might be standing your floor,” Feldman mentioned. “That's how a predator tracks prey.”
Walker’s legal professional, Senior Deputy Public Defender Randall Bethune, advised jurors that Walker didn’t got down to harm anybody, arguing that if the opposite males hadn’t been driving drunk and if they'd stopped to speak to Walker and change insurance coverage and car info then the confrontation would have been prevented.
“It isn't about battle versus flight, it was about proper versus flight,” Bethune advised jurors. “The warrior mentality doesn’t must do with battle, it has to do with honor. Mr. Walker was doing the best factor from his perspective, he had no intent to kill anybody.”
The protection legal professional argued that the 2 males who exited the opposite pickup have been going to assault Walker, telling jurors that Walker opened hearth once they have been an arm’s size away from him. The opposite males have been about to get out of the car when Walker shot them, he added.
“He fired when he was underneath assault,” Bethune mentioned. “He felt it was imminent and that the usage of power was crucial. He actually believed it.”
Walker is scheduled to return to courtroom for sentencing on June 16.