Modesto man pleads guilty to murder in 2017 shooting death of ex’s new boyfriend
A Modesto man, 30-year-old Jose Andrew Lopez III, has been convicted of murder and will be sentenced next month to an agreed upon term of 22 years to life in state prison, the Stanislaus County District Attorney’s Office reported.
Lopez was found guilty in the Jan. 27, 2017, shooting death of Kalpsh Patel, with an enhancement for using a gun in the crime and of being a felon in possession of a firearm.
That evening, police responded to a reported shooting in the area of Ortega Drive and Galvez Avenue, right behind Memorial Medical Center. Patel, 39, was found at the scene with a fatal gunshot wound.
Witnesses described hearing an argument at a nearby house, followed by gunshots and a female screaming. Patel was seen running across the street and collapsing to the ground.
Patel had been dating a former girlfriend of Lopez’s before Lopez went to prison in 2014 for domestic violence against her, a news release from the District Attorney’s Office said. When he was got out of prison, Lopez became upset she was dating Patel.
On the day of the shooting, Patel and his girlfriend drove to a home on Ortega Street, not far from where Lopez was staying, to pick up the her clothing. Lopez confronted Patel and shot him.
Lopez was arrested days later, Jan. 31, during a traffic stop in downtown Modesto. A Modesto Bee story at the time noted, “From Lopez’s home on Ortega Drive, one can see the memorial of balloons, candles and flowers erected for Patel on the sidewalk where he was found bleeding on the ground.”
This past Tuesday, Feb. 18, Lopez pleaded guilty to second-degree murder, avoiding an upcoming jury trial. He will return to court March 18 for sentencing.
