A jury has convicted Manuel Gonzalez of second-degree murder in the shooting death and robbery of 34-year-old Corey Boykin and the attempted murder of Boykin's friend, an Army veteran who was shot 11 times and survived.
Prosecutors say Gonzalez followed the pair out of Trilogy nightclub in March 2018 after spotting Boykin wearing some gold necklaces, and tailed them to where they were parked on sixth street, about a block away.
The surviving victim said they got into the car when the shooter came up to the passenger’s side and fired more than a dozen times in the car, striking the victim 11 times and killing Boykin. He then robbed them of gold necklaces and jewelry.
The surviving victim, an old high school friend of Boykin, identified Gonzalez as the shooter.
The defendant’s roommate testified that Gonzalez admitted he did it, and prosecutors showed video of who they say is Gonzalez inside the nightclub and following the two men.
The defense has maintained authorities have the wrong guy, and it was not Gonzalez who fired the shots.
The 31-year-old defendant was sentenced to the automatic life in prison without parole, plus decades for other theft and gun convictions.