Modesto man convicted of 14-year-old deadly shooting that locked down city neighborhoods
A Modesto man has been convicted of murder 14 years after a deadly shooting that locked down some of the city’s northeastern neighborhoods during a seven-hour manhunt for the suspects.
The Stanislaus County District Attorney’s Office announced this week that David Ferrel, 44, has been convicted of two counts of special-circumstance murder and other related charges for the shooting deaths of Christopher Diaz, 20, of Modesto and Mark Ochoa, 19, of Ceres.
The shootings occurred shortly after midnight Aug. 31, 2009, in a house on the 2600 block of Maxine Drive, near the intersection of Coffee Road and Floyd Avenue. According to the DA’s office, Ferrel and three other men approached the victims to confront them about a previous argument. Ferrel was convicted for shooting Diaz five times in the back, while another man in the group shot Ochoa in the chest.
The shooting led to a manhunt in the surrounding areas including Village I. An automated calling system contacted residents, instructing them to stay in their homes as officers shut down a quarter-square-mile search area. At the time, Modesto police reported that the four suspects fled in a pickup truck and had fired shots at pursing officers. No officers or bystanders were injured.
Police arrested all four suspects after the manhunt, including Ferrel and his accomplices: Modesto residents Eric Arguello, who was 18 at the time of the shootings, and Victor Zapien, who was 21, and Ceres resident Kelly Valle, who was 25. Ferrel was 30 when arrested.
In September 2012, a jury convicted Arguello, Zapien and Valle of two counts of first-degree murder each for the shooting of Diaz and Ochoa. Prosecutors had argued that all four men were Norteño gang members and the shootings were gang related.
Chief Deputy District Attorney Marlisa Ferreira led the prosecution of Ferrel.
There was no immediate word Thursday from the DA’s Office on why Ferrel’s conviction came so much later than the others.
