5 days ago
Jury convicts man of attempted murder
A Kern County jury convicted a man Friday of trying to kill another man to whom he owed a substantial amount of money.
The Kern County District Attorney's Office said in a news release Monday that Rogelio Alvarez will face up to 32 years to life in prison when he is sentenced July 15 by Kern County Superior Court Judge Tiffany Organ-Bowles.
It said Alvarez was found guilty of premeditated and deliberate attempted murder, assault with a firearm and a misdemeanor count of theft by false pretenses.
On May 19, 2024, according to the DA's release, Alvarez picked up the victim, who was supposedly a friend of his, and took him to a field off Morning Drive under the pretense that they would meet a mutual acquaintance.
But it said that when they arrived, Alvarez told the victim to hand his phone to a female passenger. Once that was done, Alvarez shot the man in the cheek, the neck and six more times in his upper body before leaving him for dead, the DA's Office stated.
It said the victim survived and walked to the nearest residence to summon help.
The DA's release said the likely motive for the shooting was that Alvarez owed the victim a substantial debt.
