BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KGET) — A suspected gang member has been found guilty of murder in connection to a shooting that occurred during a robbery on New Year’s Eve 2020.
Anthony Daniel, 20, was convicted Tuesday of first-degree murder, robbery, shooting at an occupied motor vehicle and assault with a gun on a person, according to Superior Court records. He faces 69 years to life in prison at his June 15 sentencing.
Daniel and a then-17-year-old male were charged in the killing of Emmanuel Arechiga, 18. Arechiga was shot on Morin Court and his girlfriend drove them to Echo Avenue near Wilson Park, where she called 911, prosecutors said.
According to a court filing, Arechiga’s girlfriend said the couple had gone to Morin Court to buy a gun from the 17-year-old, but once they arrived the teen and Daniel robbed them at gunpoint. She said Arechiga gave up his belongings and held his hands up saying, “Don’t shoot, don’t shoot.”
The car rolled forward and Daniel fired through the rear driver’s side passenger window, prosecutors said. The round hit Arechiga in the back.
Daniel and the juvenile took a wallet off Arechiga’s lap and Arechiga’s girlfriend climbed on top of him and drove to the park, according to prosecutors. Police and medical personnel arrived but Arechiga was declared dead at the scene.
“Investigation by the Bakersfield Police Department yielded eyewitness information and extensive social media evidence tying Daniel to the crime,” prosecutors said.
