2 found guilty of murder in Hampton Inn shooting

BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KGET) — A Kern County jury has convicted two gang members of murder in the shooting death of a man outside the Hampton Inn on Oak Street in 2021.

Angel Cordero, 27, and Jerry Ortega, 23, were found guilty on Friday and face life in prison without the possibility of parole, prosecutors say.

On June 10, 2021, Billy Anthony Avila, 40, died from multiple gunshot wounds in the parking lot. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

Prosecutors say Cordero and Ortega arrived at the Hampton Inn in a Nissan Altima and waited four hours for Avila to leave. As Avila began placed items in his vehicle, Cordero and Ortega opened fire from the Nissan, prosecutors say, then ran up and fired more shots.

A total of 15 rounds were fired. Eleven hit Avila.

The Nissan was found later that day, driven by a third person who was trying to get rid of it, prosecutors say. DNA evidence in the car linked Cordero to the shooting, and DNA evidence at the scene came back to Ortega, according to prosecutors. Clothing worn by them at the time of the killing was found and seized.

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