Ex-roomate who ambushed and shot Stanislaus dairy worker sentenced to life plus 50 years

A Bay Area man convicted of first-degree murder of his former Modesto roommate was sentenced to life in prison last week, the Stanislaus County District Attorney’s Office announced.

Eric Mills, 41, shot and killed Teodoro “Teo” Gutierrez, 52, on New Years Eve 2021. Six months before Gutierrez was murdered, Mills was kicked out of his apartment for his reported drug use. Gutierrez’s girlfriend told detectives at the time that Mills threatened to kill him, but a police report was never filed.

Mills knew where Gutierrez, a dairy employee, worked, when his shifts ended and the route he took to get home. Nev Montenegro, sister of Gutierrez, delivered a statement at Mills’ sentencing hearing. The statement said the money her brother earned from his job went to support his children and his parents, who were all devastated by his murder.

“Losing my brother gravely affected my parents,” read Montenegro’s statement. “Since his death, they have not recovered because they lost a son in a cowardly and cruel way by someone who doesn’t care or respect other people’s lives.

Montenegro went on to say that her parents were now depressed and ill as “losing a son is the most painful thing ever.”

Gutierrez left work at the end of his graveyard shift around 8:12 a.m. on Dec. 31, 2021. In the midst of dense morning fog, Mills waited at the intersection of Monte Vista Avenue and Carpenter Road — a rural location between Paterson and Turlock. Knowing his route home, Mills knew he would cross that intersection and when Gutierrez did, Mills shot him in the head.

Gutierrez’s body was found dead inside his vehicle in a field near the intersection a couple of hours later. Shattered glass and shell casing were found at the intersection where he was shot.

Mills’ sentence does not include the possibility of parole. However, it did include an extra 25 years for a gun enhancement and another 25 years for being a felon in possession of a firearm under the three strikes law.