Jury says not guilty in fatal 2021 shooting near Carlsbad playground
A Carlsbad man was acquitted of murder charges after a four-day jury trial last week, stemming from a robbery and shooting in 2021.
Lorenzo Lopez, 20, was arrested in October 2021 after police accused him of shooting and killing Eduardo Otero Jr., 22, on Oct. 10 near Cruz Fernandez Park in Carlsbad.
He was charged with first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit armed robbery, records show, but was found not guilty on both counts in Fifth Judicial District Court in Carlsbad.
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The jury rendered its verdict Sept. 8, records show, before District Judge Lisa Riley.
Police said Lopez, then age 18, and four other people, including multiple minors, planned to steal cannabis from Otero, who was ultimately shot 11 times in the incident.
Otero was found dead by police on the passenger side of a vehicle after a resident of Hueco Apartments reported shots fired at the park, records show.
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Lopez was connected to the shooting three days later after police received a tip regarding a car witnesses said left the scene after the shooting.
When police attempted a traffic stop on the car, it fled and was later found in a ditch near Lea Street after both occupants took off their shoes and jumped into the water in a nearby ditch.
They were later arrested after their shoe patterns were tied to others found at the scene of the shooting, read a criminal complaint, and a police interview with a 16-year-old allegedly involved in the incident tied Lopez to the shooting.
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The 16-year-old’s account of the incident pointed to another suspect shooting Otero, according to the complaint, but Lopez was ultimately charged.
Records did not indicate if anyone else was charged with murder stemming from the incident.
Lopez was held in pretrial detention while the case proceeded after an order was signed by Riley on Dec. 6, 2021, as the prosecution cited Lopez’s criminal history and that he was facing pending charges at the time of the shooting.
Adrian Hedden can be reached at 575-628-5516, achedden@currentargus.com or @AdrianHedden on Twitter.
This article originally appeared on Carlsbad Current-Argus: Carlsbad man found not guilty of murder in 2021 park shooting
