Guilty Verdict in South County Murder
Yesterday in Department 20 of the Tulare County Superior Court, South County Justice Center, TCDA prosecutors secured a guilty verdict against Douglas Paul, age 32, of Porterville, for the 2022 shooting murder of a woman in the south county.
On the night of March 16, 2022, Porterville Police Department officers were dispatched to a call of shots fired. When officers arrived at the location, they found an adult female victim shot in her vehicle, which had rolled backward into a fence. The victim was pronounced deceased at a local hospital shortly after.
Witnesses stated that they heard 4 to 6 shots and saw a white SUV depart from the scene. During interviews and subsequent investigation, detectives learned that the victim had conflicts with two suspects – Douglas Paul and Yvette Carrillo, age 36. Police obtained a search warrant for the OnStar GPS system in Paul’s white Chevy Equinox SUV, which placed the vehicle at the murder location. Cell phone pings to both Paul and Carrillo’s devices also placed them at the scene.
On March 31, 2022, using cell phone data, police tracked Paul and Carrillo to a residence. After setting up a SWAT perimeter, law enforcement saw Paul attempt to dump firearms into a neighbor’s yard. Before he could be apprehended, Paul ran back inside but eventually exited the residence with Carrillo and two others and was taken into custody. A search of the area rendered multiple firearms, ammunition, and drugs including a stolen 9mm firearm in a vehicle Paul had been seen driving.
At trial, Paul was convicted by a jury of premeditated first-degree murder with special allegations that he used a firearm and was lying in wait. He was also convicted of being a felon in possession of a firearm and that the crime constituted his third strike under California’s Three Strikes Law. Paul possesses two 2014 felony convictions for assault with a semi-auto firearm and assault with a deadly weapon with the special allegation that the crime was committed for the benefit of a criminal street gang.
On October 22, 2025, the court sentenced Carrillo to 17 years-to-life in prison after she pleaded to second-degree murder and possession of a firearm.
Sentencing is scheduled for December 23, 2025, in Department 20 where Paul faces life in prison without the possibility of parole.
This case was prosecuted by Chief Deputy District Attorney Jessica Weatherly and Assistant District Attorney Sean Sangree and was investigated by the Porterville Police Department.
Media inquiries can be directed to the Office of the District Attorney, County of Tulare Chief Deputy District Attorney Jessica Weatherly (559) 636-5494