Porterville Man Who Lured Teens Into Shooting Sentenced to Life in Prison
Yesterday at the South County Justice Center in Porterville, the court sentenced Carlos Santos Moreno, age 42, to life in prison for a 2018 shooting in Porterville.
Around 3 am on June 30, 2018, a group of young adults was having a party by the Tule River in Porterville when a Chevy truck with two juvenile teens drove up and began harassing the group by doing doughnuts. While doing doughnuts, the truck struck one of the partygoers and immediately fled the scene. The victim pursued the vehicle to obtain its license plate. During the pursuit, the teen driver of the Chevy truck contacted his mother’s boyfriend, Moreno, by phone. Moreno instructed the teen to lure the vehicle to his house.
When the victim arrived at Moreno’s house, Moreno confronted the victim with a firearm. As the victim fled, Moreno shot at the victim several times—one shot hitting the victim in the back, approximately 6 inches below the victim’s head. Through investigation, officers were able to trace the juvenile teen driver of the Chevy truck to Moreno, who was living on the very street where the shooting occurred. Officers executed a search warrant of the house, and located the firearm used against the victim hidden in a microwave within a locked garage.
On October 4, 2021, a jury found Moreno guilty of premeditated attempted murder with the special allegation of using a firearm causing great bodily injury, shooting at an occupied vehicle, assault with a firearm, and being a felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition. Moreno has prior convictions for robbery for the benefit of a criminal street gang, felony domestic violence, and drug sales.
Moreno will be eligible for parole in 2044 due to elder parole provisions set forth in Assembly Bill 3234 (2020).
The case was prosecuted by Deputy District Attorney Kevin Yermian and was investigated by Detectives Tim Silva and Carlos Ochoa of the Porterville Police Department.
Media inquiries can be directed to the Office of the District Attorney, County of Tulare Public Information Officer Stuart Anderson (559) 636-5494