The men knew each other, then one of them fired a gun in a Modesto alley

A 49-year-old Manteca man has been sentenced to 29 years to life in prison for shooting to death another man in a downtown Modesto alley.

Dwain Bishop on March 29 pleaded no contest to first-degree murder in the shooting of Derek Mauldin, 32, of Modesto, the Stanislaus County District Attorney's Office announced Monday.

Superior Court Judge Shawn Bessey on Friday sentenced Bishop. Deputy District Attorney Tanja Titre prosecuted the case.

The deadly shooting occurred Jan. 12, 2016 in the alley between F and E streets near 15th Street. Bishop and Mauldin were acquaintances.

Mauldin was driving his Toyota pickup through the alley that night when he stopped to talk to Bishop. Modesto police officials said a confrontation ensued between the two men, then Bishop shot Mauldin multiple times.

The pickup continued a short distance down the alley, before Mauldin's vehicle crashed into a cinder block fence. Two men were seen running from the area, but police officials said only Bishop was determined to have been involved.

Detectives apprehended Bishop two days later, after they spotted him walking near the intersection of McHenry and West Fairmont avenues in central Modesto.

Police officials said Bishop confessed to investigators that he shot Mauldin, and authorities recovered additional evidence linking Bishop to the murder.

This story was originally published April 11, 2018 at 12:16 PM with the headline "The men knew each other, then one of them fired a gun in a Modesto alley."