By Redaccion
Redaccion@latinocc.com
An Oxnard gang member has pleaded guilty to second-degree murder, nearly nine years after the crime, the Ventura County District Attorney’s Office announced Wednesday.
Christopher Paul Arevalo, 33, admitted to killing Giovanni Vega on Dec. 8, 2016, and accepted a special allegation for the use of a firearm in the crime, District Attorney Erik Nasarenko said in a statement.
Execution-style killing and incriminating evidence
According to prosecutors, Arevalo and an associate entered a convenience store in Oxnard on the night of the murder. Approximately one minute later, Vega walked into the same store and, as he exited, the suspects followed him.
Arevalo quickly caught up to Vega, asked him where he was from, and then shot him four times before fleeing with his accomplice.
The next morning, a jogger discovered Vega’s body about 130 yards from the store, along W. Vineyard Avenue.
Surveillance footage from the store helped Oxnard police identify Arevalo as the primary suspect. The day after the murder, officers conducted a traffic stop on a vehicle in which Arevalo was a backseat passenger. They found the murder weapon hidden beneath his seat.
Ballistics analysis later confirmed that the four shell casings recovered at the crime scene matched the firearm seized during the arrest.
Senior Deputy District Attorney Theresa Pollara, from the Major Crimes Homicide Unit, prosecuted the case.
Sentencing and closure for the victim’s family
Pollara emphasized the long wait for justice in the case. “The victim’s family has endured immense hardship over the years. I hope this resolution brings them the closure and peace they deserve,” she said in a statement.
Arevalo is scheduled to be sentenced on April 11, 2025, at 8:30 a.m. in courtroom 11 of the Ventura County Superior Court. He is expected to receive 35 years to life in state prison.
