Sonora High Shooting Suspect Found Guilty Of First-Degree Murder
Sonora, CA — A Tuolumne County jury found Joshua Rodriguez, the triggerman in the Sonora High School parking lot shooting, guilty as charged on Thursday afternoon.
The Tuolumne County jury of nine women and three men deliberated for about ten hours across two days before returning to the courtroom with their decision. They found 22-year-old Rodriguez of Tuolumne guilty of first-degree murder for the shooting death of 17-year-old Eric Aguiar of Sonora. As earlier reported here, when Aguiar was shot to death in his vehicle on September 16, 2020, there were also three other people in the vehicle. Rodriguez was arrested in Centerville, Utah, by police, who reported he was found hiding out in the backyard of a residence on September 26, 2020, as detailed here.
Deputy District Attorney Eric Hovatter detailed the possible range of sentences for all the charges, stating, “[It is] two years, four months for each attempted second-degree murder plus 20 years for the enhancement for personally discharging a firearm during the commission of those offenses (one for each of the three survivors) and 25 years to life for the first-degree murder and 25 years for the personal discharge of a firearm.” Hovatter added, “He will have to serve his time on the attempted murders before he does his 50 years to life. So, 67 years plus 50 to life. But there are new rules in place, voted in by voters, that could result in some of that sentence being reduced.”
Hovatter stated that Rodriguez is scheduled to be sentenced on March 9, 2023.
