The California Supreme Court refused Wednesday to review the case against a man convicted of fatally shooting a former friend in Whittier. Former Whittier resident Jose Antonio Barrios was convicted in January 2014 of first-degree murder for the Feb. 1, 2013, killing of Robert Christopher Guerrero.
In April, a three-justice panel rejected the defense’s contention that the trial court abused its discretion by admitting evidence about Barrios’ possession of firearms not used in the murder, drug use and character evidence unrelated to Guerrero’s killing.
In its 20-page ruling, the appellate court justices found there was “overwhelming evidence of guilt.”
The justices noted that evidence was presented during the trial that Barrios had “multiple motives to kill Guerrero,” including being “intensely angered by Guerrero’s advances” to a woman with whom Barrios had apparently fathered a child.
Guerrero was shot three times after driving to a residential area in the 7700 block of Paul Drive shortly after encountering Barrios at a Stater Bros. market in Whittier.
Police recovered surveillance footage from the market after finding cash and an ATM withdrawal slip in the victim’s pocket.
“The video shows that defendant was the last person with Guerrero before his death, and that he was in Guerrero’s truck with him just before Guerrero died. Guerrero was killed a short distance from the market minutes later,” the appellate court panel noted in its April 8 ruling.
A woman who was walking her dog near the scene of the shooting testified she saw the two men arguing in the truck and heard gunshots. She also identified Barrios at his trial as the man who pushed Guerrero’s body out of the driver’s side of the truck.
Barrios was arrested about 3 1/2 months after the killing. He was sentenced in March 2014 to 50 years to life in state prison.
— City News