Man gets 29 years to life in prison for fatal shooting in O.C.

A 35-year-old man was sentenced Friday to 29 years to life in prison for fatally shooting a man in Orange nearly five years ago.

Luis Albert De Paz Flores was convicted Sept. 13, 2021, of murder with special circumstances of gang activity, attempted murder, discharge of a gun at an inhabited dwelling, possession of a gun by a felon, a prohibited person owning ammunition and unlawful assault weapon activity.

Jurors in 2021 also found true a sentencing enhancement for a gang member’s discharging a gun causing great bodily injury and attempted premeditated murder. By law, he would have been sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

But Flores won a new trial on the gang allegations in June of last year due to a change in state law requiring more proof a crime was done for the benefit of a gang. After a 20-day trial, a new jury in December rejected the special circumstances for gang activity and all of the other gang enhancements.

Orange County Superior Court Judge M. Marc Kelly sentenced the defendant to 29 years to life in prison. The defendant has 1,966 days credit for time behind bars.

Flores was convicted in 2021 of killing 26-year-old Marco Huerta Torres of Orange on Aug. 6, 2020, prosecutors said.

Adrian Cruz, Alberta Gonzalez and Torres were hanging out drinking in a garage at 1522 East Locus Avenue in Orange about 11 p.m. when a rival gang member opened fire on Torres and Gonzalez, prosecutors said in court papers. A turf war had broken out between two rival gangs in the area, prosecutors said.

Cruz had ducked into the residence next to the garage to return a pet bird when the gunfire rang out, prosecutors said. When he heard the gunshots, he dashed back to the garage and saw Torres was heavily bleeding, prosecutors said.

The three got into a car and Cruz attempted to drive the victim to a hospital, but got in a crash just after 11:15 p.m. at Chapman Avenue and Tustin Street, prosecutors said.

Police called paramedics, who rushed Torres to a hospital, where he later died, prosecutors said.

Investigators linked Flores to the shooting through DNA evidence on .357-caliber cartridge casings, according to prosecutors.

Flores pleaded guilty in June 2008 to car theft, possession, manufacture or sale of a deadly weapon and participating in gang activity, all felonies.