Calif. man convicted of killing friend because he believed his girlfriend had cheated with the victim

DINUBA, Calif. (TCN) -- A 36-year-old man faces life in prison for fatally shooting his friend in 2020 because he believed his girlfriend had cheated with the victim.

The Tulare County District Attorney's Office secured a conviction for Antonio Mendoza Chavez Jr. on Aug. 30. A jury found him guilty of first-degree murder with the use of a firearm in connection with the death of his friend, identified by the Tulare County Sheriff's Office as 51-year-old Alfredo Carranza. Chavez will be sentenced next month.

According to prosecutors, Chavez broke up with his girlfriend in early August 2020 and "forcibly removed her from his trailer." Since she didn't have any access to money, food, or housing, she reportedly stayed the night with Carranza.

The district attorney's office said Chavez and his girlfriend eventually worked things out.

On Aug. 14, 2020, Chavez's girlfriend reportedly informed him that she had spent the night at Carranza's house during their breakup. According to prosecutors, Chavez believed his girlfriend had cheated on him, and he "grew angry." Chavez reportedly obtained a .22 AR-15 rifle and test-fired the weapon before going to his friend's house and fatally shooting him once through the eye. The district attorney's office said Chavez forced his girlfriend to come along to Carranza's house during the shooting.

Following the incident, Chavez reportedly burned his and his girlfriend's clothes, as well as the tires of the vehicle.

According to the sheriff's office, authorities found Carranza's body in his home on the same day of the shooting. Law enforcement officials arrested Chavez weeks later in the Sultana area on Sept. 4, 2020, following a brief car chase.