People v. Mello CA3

BACKGROUND

Kenny Evans, C.L., G.C. and others were involved in a hand-to-hand fight on September 7, 2019. Someone shot Evans in the chest, and he died the next day. Evans dated C.L. on and off for 13 years. C.L. had a sexual relationship with defendant when Evans was in prison but ended that relationship before Evans was released and she stopped communicating with defendant. Within a week before the September 7 shooting, defendant posted a video on Facebook referencing Evans and C.L. Defendant posted that he had a gun and was coming for them. Defendant made comments that a law enforcement officer described as a threat to shoot someone.

2 About an hour before the shooting, defendant recorded another video in which he said he was on his way to kill Evans. Surveillance videos from businesses at the location of the shooting were played at the trial. The videos captured the fight in the parking lot and the reaction of the crowd to the shooting, but they did not capture the shooting itself. C.L. identified an individual in surveillance videos as defendant; the individual was wearing a red sweatshirt, black pants, and a grey head covering. At the trial, she said defendant wore the same…