Two men were convicted of first-degree murder in the July 2023 killing of a Wilton Rancheria man in a Rancho Cordova parking lot, Sacramento County District Attorney’s Office officials said.
Sacramento Superior Court jurors heard testimony that Sammuel Amorado and Andres Santibenez chased Gabriel Espinoza in their car and then on foot through a fast-food restaurant parking lot.
The two men beat Espinoza before Santibanez ran over him and dragged him with his car, prosecutors with the Sacramento County District Attorney’s Office said. Amorado then slashed the motionless Espinoza’s neck with a machete, prosecutors said. Espinoza died at the scene.
Prosecutors said Amorado and Santibanez attacked Espinoza after a friend of theirs was injured in an earlier altercation with him.
Jurors delivered their verdict Friday before Sacramento Superior Court Judge Steve White. Amorado was also found to have used a deadly and dangerous weapon in the killing and faces a maximum of 26 years to life in state prison. Santibenez faces a maximum sentence of 25 years to life in prison.
Sentencing before White is scheduled for April 17 at Sacramento Superior Court.
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Darrell Smith is a local reporter for The Sacramento Bee. He joined The Bee in 2006 and previously worked at newspapers in Palm Springs, Colorado Springs and Marysville. Smith was born and raised at Beale Air Force Base and lives in Elk Grove.