A man found guilty of being in a criminal street gang was convicted of murder June 25 for the 2016 shooting death of a Marine outside of a club in San Bernardino, California.
Arturo Perez Medina, 24, initially fled to the border city Tijuana, but was taken into custody by Mexican Federal Police and extradited to stand trial according to California’s San Bernardino Police Department, the San Bernardino Sun reported. Medina is a U.S. citizen.
Medina, a member of the Westside Verdugo gang, was also found guilty of gang-related charges and the illegal possession of a firearm, according to police spokeswoman Sadie Albers.
Twenty-year-old Marine Pfc. Douglas R. C. Rivas-Rauda, assigned to the 1st Marine Division, Twentynine Palms, California, had volunteered to be the designated driver for fellow Marines on the evening he was killed, the Sun reported.
Rivas was in a parking lot next to his vehicle, waiting for Marine friends when Medina approached him and — for reasons unknown — shot him in the chest multiple times. Rivas died at the scene of the shooting, the Sun reported.
Albers said Rivas’ family flew in from Maryland and his fellow Marines were also in attendance for the verdict.
Police have described Rivas as an innocent victim, the Sun reported.
