A parolee who gunned down a romantic rival on a Hemet street was convicted Thursday of murder and other charges.
A Banning jury deliberated less than a day before finding 42-year-old Samuel James Wright guilty of killing fellow Hemet resident Frank Ray in December.
Along with the murder count, jurors convicted Wright of being a felon in possession of a firearm, witness intimidation and sentence-enhancing gun and great bodily injury allegations.
Riverside County Superior Court Judge Rene Navarro scheduled a sentencing hearing for Oct. 8 at the Banning Justice Center.
Wright, who is being held without bail at the Smith Correctional Facility in Banning, is expected to receive 50 years to life in state prison.
According to the prosecution, there was bad blood between the defendant and the 43-year-old Ray because both men were involved with the same woman, whose name was not disclosed in court documents.
The two men had engaged in verbal altercations, but nothing physical, and on the night of last Dec. 28, it did not appear as if they were going to be combative after encountering one another outside the Green Tree Apartments, where the victim was walking with the woman in the 300 block of North Hamilton Street.
According to a trial brief filed by Deputy District Attorney Sean Oswill, Wright initially trailed behind the victim and his girlfriend, showing no aggression, but as they drew closer to the entrance of the apartment complex, the convicted felon abruptly walked ahead of them, gaining 10 or more feet, then allegedly turned and drew a 9mm semiautomatic handgun, firing one time into Ray’s chest.
Most of the attack was captured on a security surveillance video camera, though the faces of the parties were blurred, Oswill said.
Oswill alleged that Wright threatened his lover before fleeing the location.
Ray clung to life, but fell unconscious before Hemet police officers reached the scene. He was taken to Riverside University Medical Center in Moreno Valley, where he died that night.
Homicide detectives initially received conflicting accounts of what happened from the sole witness, who later admitted that Wright had “threatened me that night, and (said) if I said anything, he’d kill me,” according to the brief.
The woman ultimately acknowledged that Wright was the alleged gunman, according to prosecutors.
The parolee was spotted eight days later driving a vehicle with out-of-date plates in Pomona, where a patrolman attempted to stop him, culminating in the defendant allegedly bailing out of the Buick sedan and trying to run away, Oswill alleged.
Wright was taken into custody after a brief foot chase.
According to court records, he has prior convictions for assault and assault with a deadly weapon.